One Hundred Weeks
by Aaron Nowack
Summary: <html><head></head>In less than two years, Orochimaru will have what he desires, and Uchiha Sasuke will be lost forever.  In less than two years, Naruto and Sakura will have to be ready to save him.  Sequel to One Hundred Days.</html>
1. Prelude: Meetings and A Parting

One Hundred Weeks  
>A Naruto Fanfic<br>By: Aaron Nowack

Prelude: Meetings and A Parting

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><p>Disclaimer: Contrary to its status in several improbable alternate universes, Naruto does not belong to me. It belongs to Kishimoto Masashi; I'm just borrowing it without permission. However, the blame for the actual text of this fanfiction is mine. Also, cucumbers.<p>

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><p>The village council of the Leaf Village was, in many ways, nothing but a useful fiction. No document spelled out its members, its procedures, or its powers. Not a single ninja wearing the Leaf on her forehead, when asked, would proclaim that her loyalty was to the village council. There was, in short, no authority vested in the council that existed beyond the personal power of its members, most importantly that of the Hokage. That was the only kind of power that mattered, in the end.<p>

The group meeting late at night in the Hokage's private chambers had even less formality and fewer members than the usual meeting of the council. Yet by that most important metric it was as powerful as many of the largest and most elaborate incarnations of the village council. None of the few present were in this room due to political connections, due to past glory that was not reflected in present wisdom, nor due to accident of birth.

The Hidden Leaf's Fifth Hokage, Tsunade of the legendary Sannin, did not think that this night would produce decisions of great importance. It was unlikely that any formal proclamation at all would come from this meeting, and she was probably the only one to think of it as a council meeting at all. But in Tsunade's mind, this gathering had more claim to the title than many of the scheduled council meetings she had held.

"Thank you all for coming," she said as she poured sake for her guests, as though she were nothing more than an ordinary woman who had invited her neighbors over for drinks. There were no servants or retainers in the Hokage's mansion, not under Tsunade's reign.

Seated at Tsunade's left, Shizune accepted a cup from her mentor. Shizune herself was likely the only member of this council who did not consider Tsunade's long-time student an equal member of the group. She might not yet have the infamous reputations or recognized titles of the others, but she had learned from Tsunade for over a decade, and was one of the premier medical ninja in the world. Shizune murmured thanks to the older woman, then glanced across the low table at the only other person to match her relative youth.

"Are you feeling all right, Kakashi-kun?" she asked softly. Sharingan Kakashi, the infamous Copy Ninja, had only recently been released from Shizune's care at the Leaf Village's hospital, recovering from his, thankfully brief, captivity in the Cloud Village.

"Of course," he answered cheerfully as Tsunade poured him a cup as well. He took it, and when he sipped even Tsunade's keen eyes didn't see his cloth mask disturbed. "With both you and Hokage-sama looking after me, was there any question?"

"Yes," Tsunade answered shortly. Kakashi had almost killed himself, trying to fight with chakra-inhibiting drugs still in his system. That the alternative - letting Orochimaru kidnap Naruto without a fight - had been unacceptable did not reduce Tsunade's irritation, but it did redirect it at the Hidden Sound's leader. She turned her attention to her right and poured for her final guest.

Jiraiya the Toad Hermit took his drink, then when Tsunade set the bottle down lifted it and returned the favor, filling his former teammate's own glass. With a rudeness Tsunade would have found offensive in almost anyone else, he emptied his whole glass in one gulp and refilled it himself. "Been a long few weeks," he said simply.

Shizune gazed into her own glass for a few moments, then drained it with only slightly more decorum. "A longer few months," she said in agreement, holding out her empty glass. Jiraiya filled it, then placed the bottle back on the table.

"Do you realize," Tsunade said, "that over the course of the past year, all five Kages died?"

The sentence hung in the air for several moments. Then Kakashi held out a suddenly empty cup. As Tsunade refilled it, he shook his head. "I never thought of it that way, but it's true, isn't it?"

"Orochimaru killed Sarutobi-sensei," Jiraiya said darkly.

"The Kazekage first, if we can believe the Sand," Tsunade said.

Kakashi blinked his visible eye. "Do we think they're lying about that? I don't know why else they'd have been so eager to rejoin the alliance. We weren't - still aren't - in any position to invade them."

"The whole conspiracy with the Sound was part of a power play against the Wind Country daimyo," Jiraiya said. "It's awfully convenient that as soon as things started to go sour for the Kazekage's faction, he turns up dead in a way that lets the Sand avoid any responsibility for his actions."

"They're still arguing over who will be the next Kazekage," Shizune commented. She refilled Tsunade's almost empty cup. "It looks like that could go on for years at this rate."

"The Raikage was killed by the High Priestess of the Thunder Dragon," Kakashi said after a brief silence. That had happened as Jiraiya, Naruto, and he had escaped the Cloud Village.

"Kaida," Jiraiya said bitterly, naming the woman who had been second only to the Raikage in that village. She had been Jiraiya's friend and ally, and he had trusted her to examine Naruto's seal when it began to weaken. She had also been a member of the criminal organization Akatsuki.

"It's weird to say," Kakashi said, "but do you think we can convince the Cloud that I didn't convince her apprentice to turn traitor? I actually feel kind of bad for her." Sinobi Junhime had been the one to capture Kakashi. She had also been the one to reveal Kaida's treachery, giving her life to kill the High Priestess.

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm afraid to say anything to them about that mess," she said. "The last thing we need is for the Cloud to decide that you let yourself be captured in order to infiltrate the their village and assassinate all three of them. There's no telling what might set them off."

"My network's weak in Lightning Country," Jiraiya said, "but I hear things are starting to get ugly there. Might even be a civil war in the making." He sighed. "I'd rather it happened to the Mist, but there's rumors that they've already selected a new Mizukage."

"That's fast," Shizune said. "Less than a month after his death." No one was rude enough to point out aloud that Jiraiya was the one who had killed the previous Mizukage.

"The Mist are never going to agree to peace now, not when they think I broke truce to ambush the Mizukage," Tsunade said. "And Orochimaru got away too, the slippery bastard."

"At least we caught a lucky break when that old fart in Rock finally kicked the bucket," Jiraiya said. "I can work with Hojo."

"And your first deal with him," Tsunade replied, "left Rock ninja squatting all over the Rain and Rice Field Countries and on our borders again. We spent generations kicking those bastards back behind their mountains, and now we're almost right back where my grandfather started."

"It also," Shizune said, "crushed the Sound and helped us get Naruto out of Orochimaru's hands." Shizune had lead the team of fresh chuunin that had gone on that desperate rescue mission into Rice Field Country.

"I know." Tsunade wanted to bury her face in her hands, but settled for taking a large sip. "But now I have to deal with the costs."

"Once is chance," Kakashi said after a moment's silence. "Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy ninja," he quoted the famous maxim.

"So what the hell is five times, hmm?" Jiraiya asked. "I'm tempted to blame Orochimaru."

"He certainly has his fingers in all this chaos," Shizune said.

"The Tsuchikage was just old age," Tsunade said, "and I doubt you're his agent, Jiraiya."

"He wanted me at that battle," Jiraiya said darkly, then shook his head. "I don't think to kill the Mizukage, though. He isn't a god. There's no way he could have predicted that particular outcome."

"I think he wanted you there to keep the Leaf from falling apart after he killed me," Tsunade replied. "He said he wanted the war to keep going."

"Possibly," Jiraiya said. "It's twisty enough to be his motive." He groaned. "Trying to think like him makes my head hurt."

* * *

><p>"I believe this is where I ask you to give me a reason not to kill you," Orochimaru asked. Shadows obscured the legendary missing ninja's face. If he hadn't known his master so well, Yakushi Kabuto would not have been able to tell that he had once again discarded the seeming of his original body. Most likely he had been forced to shed his skin to escape the battle between the Leaf and Mist, and had not yet had time to regrow his disguise.<p>

"Must you ask?" Kabuto said as he kneeled before his master's throne. This chamber, deep underneath Orochimaru's new hideout on an abandoned island in the Water Country, was identical to the one beneath the Rice Field Country stronghold Kabuto had fled a month prior. It was not surprising, considering that both fortresses had been created by a custom summoning technique the renegade Sannin had invented.

"I'm told I have no tolerance for failures," Orochimaru said. He smiled. "I'm not sure I've ever had to discipline someone for losing a country before."

"Temporarily mislaid, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said. "The Rice Field Country has a long history of fighting foreign occupation. If anything, this will help us bring the wayward clans like the Fuuma back into the Sound Village."

"Perhaps," Orochimaru said. "I'm not sure whether that village has outlived its purpose or not."

"A Hidden Village is a tool with many uses, even if one doesn't need it at the moment." Kabuto pondered the possibilities for a moment. "Perhaps if we had it reform under an agent, rather than ruling it directly?"

"You may be thinking too far ahead," Orochimaru said. "There's supposed to be more groveling first before I forgive you, at least from my reading."

Kabuto sighed. "Icha Icha In The Grasp Of The Dark Ninja Daimyo, Orochimaru-sama?" he asked, naming Jiraiya's most recent work. How the Toad Hermit found the time to churn them out, the medical ninja could never figure out.

Orochimaru laughed. "Do tell me if you're planning to fall for a captured kunoichi I desire for myself, please. I'd hate to be surprised by your inevitable betrayal in the name of love and justice."

Kabuto let himself grin slightly. "Not for those, Orochimaru-sama."

"No, I suppose not." Orochimaru leaned forward, a hungry light seeming to glint in his inhuman eyes. "So."

"I managed to get out of the country with your… apprentice in hand," Kabuto said, "as you well know. And Tayuya-chan, so that plan can proceed."

"I don't suppose she's managed to get herself pregnant yet?" Orochimaru asked.

"Sasuke-kun has proven uninterested in subtle prompting so far," Kabuto said. "I suppose he's still young, after all. I hesitated to order her to force the issue without your permission."

Orochimaru waved a hand lazily in the air. "We have time."

Kabuto just nodded.

"What of the rest of them?" his master asked.

"Kidoumaru-kun is here," Kabuto said. "Jabisen-kun and Midori-chan were lost in the fighting with the Leaf."

"I suppose I'll need two new ones then," Orochimaru said, "if we're to keep this little tradition."

"I'm sure I can find a few ninja willing to join the Sound Five," Kabuto said. "With luck, two will survive gaining their seals."

Orochimaru smiled. "I've done a little work in improving that," he said, "since you insisted. The last two both survived, did they not?"

"It was touch-and-go for a while with Midori-chan," Kabuto said. "I'm afraid I don't know what happened to her teacher. I suspect the Leaf killed or captured her, but I can't be sure."

"A renegade Mist jounin, or even the genin, would be inconvenient now, in any case," Orochimaru said.

"So we are still allied to the Mist, then?"

"Of course," Orochimaru said, shifting in his throne. He leaned forward again, his stolen face grave as it came into the light. "I am deeply sorrowed that I was not able to predict the depths of my former teammates' treachery. Rest assured, I and my village will do everything in our power to help the Mist avenge this foul deed." He sat back and laughed. "There's no one left to claim I struck first except Tsunade-hime, and who would believe her?"

"I would," Kabuto offered generously. "Not that it is any help to her." He paused. "Are those enough reasons to spare me, or should I give you more?"

"I suppose I won't kill you for now," Orochimaru said. "I do need someone to run things here while I go to meet with the new Mizukage. Try not to let the Leaf conquer the Water Country while I'm gone."

"I'll try," Kabuto replied. "Who did they pick?"

"Terumii Mei," Orochimaru said. "She might have received the title the last time, but she declined rather than fight it out when some of the old guard objected to such a prominent reformer taking the title."

"Hmm." Kabuto said. "I wonder why she didn't go missing ninja and found her own village."

"Don't be silly, Kabuto-kun," Orochimaru warned. "I might still kill you when I get back." Despite the words, there was no anger in his voice.

"I'll keep that in mind, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto promised.

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><p>"I admit," Kakashi said as he stared at his half-empty cup of sake, "that I did not expect to be discussing such matters when you invited me here, Hokage-sama. Now I'm feeling depressed."<p>

Tsunade let out a grunt. "Don't expect me to apologize for that. Try my stupid hat on for size, then see how you feel about this mess."

"What did you expect to talk about, Kakashi-kun?" Shizune asked. Her cup had been empty for some time, but she had waved off all attempts to refill it.

"Given the company," Kakashi said, "I had thought the topic was my students." The folds of his mask twisted into a grimace. "Or my former students, rather."

"I'd expect the brat to have already talked your ears off," Jiraiya said. His face was slightly flushed, but he gave no other sign of the copious amounts of sake he'd imbibed this evening.

Kakashi's visible eye wandered over to the male Sannin. "He did, but to be honest I don't know how much of what I remember him saying was real and how much was Shizune-san's… entertaining medical concoctions. You should sell those on the black market, by the way, if you aren't already."

Shizune's face reddened briefly. "Kakashi-kun!" she protested, but the copy ninja waved the complaint off.

"Be nice to Shizune, Kakashi-kun," Tsunade said, "or I'll stick you on sewer duty for the next six months."

"Sorry, sorry," Kakashi said with a laugh. "But, Jiraiya-sama, did you really make Naruto dress like a girl all the way from Earth Country to Lightning Country?"

Jiraiya grinned. "Halfway," he said. "It was good for him. Practice for his best technique."

"Really?" Tsunade said dangerously.

"Bah," Jiraiya said with a sigh. "You have no sense of humor, old woman." Tsunade's eye twitched, and she almost stood. Shizune placed her hand on her teacher's shoulder, and the Hokage settled back into her seat.

"If you want the details, Kakashi-kun," Jiraiya said, "I'm basing my next book on that little adventure." His grin widened. "It has everything: cross-dressing, snow maidens, the fate of nations, and a beautiful kunoichi out to avenge her fallen village! I'm thinking it'll be called 'Ice-Cold Icha Icha'."

"Ooh," Kakashi said, a distant look in his eyes.

Tsunade's fist slammed into the table, shaking him out of it and sending sake flying out of her cup. "That's quite enough of that."

"Thank you," Shizune muttered.

"All right, all right." Jiraiya laughed. "You know most of what happened, Kakashi-kun. The important parts, anyway. You were there for the tail end of it."

Kakashi nodded, glancing at Tsunade. "What about Sakura-chan, then? You've been keeping her busy, Hokage-sama, so I've barely seen her. I know she made chuunin at the exams."

"Before she became your apprentice," Jiraiya said dryly, a slight smile creeping onto his face. "She was very clear on that when we met up." His expression smoothed. "I'm a little curious why you let Anko-chan make her a snake summoner, though."

"Anko-chan is Anko-chan," Tsunade said, and that was all the explanation that was needed.

Jiraiya shook his head, and Kakashi laughed. "Anything else happen with my cutest little student while I was… gone?" the copy ninja asked. Tsunade and Shizune exchanged a look. Jiraiya straightened up in his seat at their reaction, and Kakashi blinked. "What happened to her?" he asked quietly.

The younger woman spoke first. "She… hasn't talked to you about her mother?" Shizune asked.

"No," Kakashi said carefully. "I suspected when I left that she was having family problems, but…"

"Haruno Amaya," Tsunade interrupted angrily, "was a traitor, a spy for the Hidden Mist. During the Mist attack on the village, she was killed in battle by Leaf chuunin Haruno Sakura."

"Oh," Kakashi breathed.

"Gods preserve," Jiraiya said, his voice sickly. "That… and she was thrown back into combat so soon after, to rescue Naruto. I don't know if I could have handled that at thirteen."

"We're keeping an eye on her," Shizune said. "It was… bad, for a little while, but she's holding up for now. Other than that," she trailed off with a sigh.

"The worst thing we could do is to make her think that she should be breaking down," Tsunade explained, "and make her feel guilty for handling it as well as she has."

Jiraiya sighed. "We have to watch Naruto, too. Or rather, his unruly house-guest." He shuddered.

"We talked briefly," Tsunade said, "but you never did explain exactly what was wrong."

"The seal is weakening. That's why we cut training with Hojo short and went to see Kaida in the first place." He took a deep breath, then began to speak clinically. "Naruto is experiencing manifestations, where a visible red chakra shroud in the shape of a fox covers him. As more chakra comes out, he grows tails."

"That's not good," Kakashi observed dryly.

"No. At one tail, he has some control, but not much. At two, he goes berserk. I haven't let it go further, for obvious reasons." Jiraiya sighed. "Worse, the evidence is that the seal is starting to work both ways. Naruto is able to use the demon's chakra." Jiraiya stopped for a moment, then finished quietly. "The fox is able to use Naruto's chakra."

"Damn it," Tsunade cursed. "That's not supposed to happen."

"It's a miracle that seal worked at all," Jiraiya said. "It was a desperate, hasty gamble, reverse-engineered from a half-complete, stolen scroll. Those two did great work with what they had, and Sarutobi-sensei and I shored it up the best we could after the fact."

"But it's trying to do two contradictory things," Tsunade said quietly. "Keep the demon contained, and let its chakra out."

"And the chakra is the demon," Jiraiya agreed. He paused a moment. "And Kaida was doing something to the seal, while she had Naruto. She was supposed to be strengthening it, but I don't think she was."

"Bad," Kakashi said after a moment.

Shizune reached for the bottle of sake, and poured the last of it into her cup. "May the gods watch over both of them, and all of us," she said before taking a long drink.

* * *

><p>Naruto wasn't quite sure how his attempt to take Sakura on a date had turned into a massive group dinner. Looking back, the critical moment had been when they'd run into Ino while arguing over whether they were actually on a date. The blonde kunoichi had been heading to meet up with Shikamaru and Chouji for dinner, and Naruto and Sakura had somehow wound up agreeing to join them.<p>

Shikamaru had been on gate duty - according to Sakura, who normally worked with him as one of the Hokage's chuunin assistants, he had said something sexist which had annoyed Tsunade enough to stick him with the duty for a month - and had told them that Kiba and Shino's team was back in the village, for the first time since the Chuunin Exams. That had prompted an effort to track those three down and invite them along.

When they'd tracked Hinata down, she'd been finishing up a spar with Neji - apparently those two were getting along reasonably now, Naruto was glad to see. After some stammering and flushing - the girl was just weird like that - Hinata had agreed to come, then hesitatingly asked her cousin if he wanted to come too. Rather shockingly to Naruto, he'd agreed, but on the condition that they extend invitations to Rock Lee and Tenten also.

Now, after about an hour running all over the village finding teammates, eleven young genin and chuunin were stuffed into a private room at the back of Chouji's favorite barbeque place. He couldn't complain too much about losing the chance at a date; the Akimichi Clan was apparently picking up the tab. Apparently the owners were a couple of retired ninja from that clan, and Chouji claimed that, with the friends and family discount, the Clan's budget wouldn't notice the expense.

More importantly, it had been a while since he had seen everyone, and that was… good. More than good, really. He'd been away from the village for months, longer than he ever had in his life. It was good to see his friends again, to be living in his own apartment again. Although that was kind of weird now, since Sakura was living in the spare bedroom some of his caretakers had lived in when he was younger. He wasn't about to kick Sakura out, though.

"So," Naruto said around a mouthful of meat as the conversation came to a lull. Everyone turned to look at him, and he swallowed. "Who all made chuunin?" he asked. "I know Sakura-chan, Lee, Neji, and Ino."

"I told you all that," Sakura said from her seat beside him.

"Eh," Naruto said, "we talked about a lot of things. I don't remember it all."

"Of course not," the pink-haired girl muttered. "That's about it," she said. "Except for Tenten-san." Sakura gestured down the table at her.

The thrown weapons expert nodded. "And the guy from Waterfall who had the crush on you."

"Wh- he didn't," Sakura began.

Ino laughed at her from across the table. "You're blind, Forehead," she said. Beside her, Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shut up," Sakura said grumpily. "I had more important things on my mind."

"Waterfall?" Naruto asked. "What was his name?" Was it the one he'd met when traveling through that country? He'd said he was planning to go to the exams. Ara-something.

"Hiraki Arata," Shino said, and Naruto was pretty sure that was the right name. "He was at the battle." There was no need to specify which one; the Waterfall, the Sand, and the Grass had only participated in one major battle against the Mist.

Shikamaru grunted. "How're things?" he asked, glancing down the table at Shino's team. They had been in the field since that battle.

"As you'd expect," was all Shino said.

Kiba rolled his eyes and elaborated. "We've been staring angrily at the Mist across the bridge to Wave Country, and they've been staring right back at us. We haven't got the strength to try anything since the allied nations had to head back out west to keep the Rock from getting hungry."

"But they left enough squads so that the Mist don't know that," Sakura finished. Naruto guessed that she must have overheard discussions about the issue while working in the Hokage's temporary offices in the repurposed academy building. Damaged in the Mist's raid, the Hokage's tower was deemed a low priority for reconstruction by Tsunade, doubly so when the hospital had been almost completely destroyed.

"That can't last forever," Chouji rumbled.

No one said anything to that, and Naruto decided to break the dark silence with another question. "So what's everyone up to now?"

"Academy teaching," Ino said with a groan. "Teaching flower arrangement to bratty eight-year-old girls. I hate kids!"

"Our team got broken up," Tenten said, "since we all made chuunin." She glanced at Neji. "Thanks for inviting us, by the way. We don't get to see each other too often."

"Indeed!" Rock Lee exclaimed. "This is a most youthful evening, thanks to everyone!"

"Don't mention it," Neji said. "Please."

"Same thing happened to us," Chouji said. "Well, except I didn't make chuunin. I think they're sticking me on one of the genin teams from the class below us that lost a member."

This time Kiba broke the silence that followed. "Well, we're all still together, since thanks to certain people we're all still genin." He favored Sakura with a glare.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Umm…" Sakura quickly swallowed a mouthful of barbeque. "Chouji, Ino, and I kind of took their scroll in the second exam."

"K-kind of?" Hinata protested quietly.

Naruto stared at Sakura. "Why would you do that?" he asked in horror.

"It's an exam!" Sakura almost shouted. "Every team for itself. You beat the crap out of Kiba yourself in the preliminaries the time before!"

"That's different," Naruto said.

"No, it's not," Tenten interjected.

"This is not a useful conversation," Shino stated.

"Doesn't sound like one," Mitarashi Anko said as she suddenly appeared sitting in the empty twelfth seat at the far end of the table, which Naruto had been trying not to notice during the meal.

"Where'd you come from?" Kiba growled. "And why are you here?"

The special jounin grinned. "Well, I was coming here for dinner, and then I heard some of my favorite little ninja, so I thought I'd drop in and say hello!"

"Your favorite little ninja?" Shino asked.

Anko's face was serious for a moment. "Well, a bunch of you did break me out of Orochimaru's prisons in Rice Field Country. I figure that's worth a whole ton of bonus points."

"I'd hope so," Ino muttered.

"Are you still annoyed at me for those snakes I put in your bedroll on the way back?" Anko pouted.

"You did ask her what she did to help me get stronger, Ino-pig," Sakura reminded her rival with a laugh.

"Not that I'm complaining," Shikamaru interjected, "but shouldn't you be in jail or something, Mitarashi-sensei? You did technically help those Mist genin escape. Twice."

Anko shrugged. "Helps to have friends in high places."

"Who else went to Rice Field?" Shino asked quietly. His gaze swept the room.

"Well, Sakura-chan, of course," Anko said. "Lazy over there, the girl who doesn't like snakes, Gai's little clone, and the only Hyuuga I've ever met with a sense of humor."

"She only remembers Sakura's name?" Ino grumbled quietly.

Kiba had focused on something else entirely in Anko's recitation. "Huh? Hinata couldn't have been on that mission, she was with us!"

Anko blinked, staring for a moment at the Hyuuga heiress, who flushed under her scrutiny. "Not her," Anko said, flicking a finger at Neji. "The other one."

Everyone stared at Neji for a moment. "Neji has a sense of humor?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Neji deliberately took several bites of meat before speaking. "Why did the missing ninja use the Replacement Technique?" he asked in a monotone. "Answer: it doesn't matter, because the second kunai the ANBU hid in the first's shadow still killed him, as was fated from the beginning."

There wasn't even a groan. "You're making me look stupid," Anko complained after a moment.

"Is that so?" Neji asked dryly, then returned to his meal.

"That's it!" Anko exclaimed, standing up and pointing directly at Neji. "Tomorrow morning, I'm having you assigned to my interrogation team! The horror of a witty Hyuuga will have those scum begging to talk in no time at all."

"My - my father might have a problem with that," Hinata said.

Anko grinned. "Your father is no problem at all, trust me."

Neji snorted. "I might have a problem with that."

"You don't get a choice," Anko replied. "Well, anyway, now that I've said hello, I'm off. Have fun, kids, and don't get caught doing anything I wouldn't get caught doing!"

There was a silence after she left, but it was much more comfortable than the earlier ones. "She is seriously crazy," Kiba offered after a moment.

"Tell me about it," Sakura said with a laugh. "But she really is nice, once you get to know her."

"You're seriously crazy," Ino said.

As the dinner wound down a while later, Sakura turned to Naruto. "You've been quiet tonight," she commented.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "I've been thinking."

"With what?" Sakura asked. Naruto gave her a hurt look, and she grimaced. "Sorry. Habit."

"It's okay," Naruto said, and then he slammed his hand onto the table, grabbing everyone's attention. He'd made a decision, and he wasn't going to waste any more time thinking about it. "When we're done here, would you all mind coming with me to the training grounds? There's something I'd like to do in private."

Sakura looked at Naruto curiously. "Sure, I guess," she said. There was general agreement, and twenty minutes later, the group of young ninja had regathered at the same training ground where, over a year ago now, Kakashi's Team Seven had managed to pass the infamous bell test.

Naruto thought that somehow appropriate. "Everyone, thanks for coming."

"So what's the big deal?" Tenten asked. A kunai appeared in her hands, and after a moment's consideration she sent it flying into one of the wooden posts. Naruto thought it might have been the one he had been tied to, which he hoped wasn't a sign.

"Neji, Hinata-chan," Naruto said seriously, looking at the pair of Hyuuga. "Do you mind making sure we have privacy?"

"Byakugan!" the two uttered in unison. After a moment, Hinata spoke. "I don't see anyone."

"Two ANBU," Neji corrected. "Cloaking genjutsu."

"R-right," Hinata agreed a second later.

"That's fine, I guess," Naruto said.

Neji shook his head. He waited a moment, then said. "They're out of earshot now."

"This is something big?" Chouji asked.

Naruto nodded. "There's something I need to tell you all about." They deserved to know. They were all friends and allies.

"Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru said, worry in his voice.

Sakura blinked. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked quietly. She and Shikamaru had figured out Naruto's secret while he'd been gone. It had actually been a relief, because he would never have been able to work up the courage to risk telling Sakura.

"I've actually talked about it with Ero-sennin," Naruto told them. "He agreed it was a good idea. All my enemies already know. There's no reason to hide it from my friends any longer."

Ino crossed her arms across her chest. "Are you going to spill the beans on what the hell makes you so important that Shizune-sama was willing to drop everything and potentially go against Orochimaru himself with only five chuunin for backup to rescue you?"

"Bloodline Limit?" Shino speculated.

Naruto shook his head. "Not quite." He took a deep breath. "You all know how the Fourth Hokage died, right?"

"Everyone knows that," Chouji said.

"He's one of the village's greatest heroes!" Rock Lee exclaimed. "Sacrificing himself to kill the demon fox Kyuubi!"

"You see," Naruto began, and then he had to stop, taking another breath to gather himself. "What I learned, around the time we all became genin, well except for you, and Neji, and Tenten…" Naruto shook his head. He was trying to delay, and it was far too late now. "That story is a lie."

* * *

><p>Once the sake had run out, Tsunade had relocated her meeting to a grove of trees on the grounds of her mansion. Legend stated that they had been grown by the First Hokage himself during the negotiations before the Leaf Village had been founded, to demonstrate that he had recovered the lost art of wood element ninjutsu. If Tsunade knew one way or the other whether the legend was true, she had never told anyone.<p>

There was a cool breeze in the night air, a memory of a winter that was rapidly turning to spring. None of the four ninja made any show of checking for listeners - a possibility, even in so secure a location - but there was little risk that anyone could escape the attention of all four of them.

"So," Jiraiya said, "since we seem to be making the circle of troublesome topics this evening: Akatsuki."

"I thought they weren't supposed to move again for a few years yet," Kakashi said. "Itachi didn't seem inclined to wait, when you fought him."

Jiraiya grimaced. "It may have just been a target of opportunity," he said, "since I was foolish enough to leave Naruto alone with Kaida." He clenched his fists. "Or the intelligence may have been suspect to begin with. I can't trust anything for certain. Kaida is… was… an important part of my efforts to keep track of those people. She could have corrupted my whole network."

"Then what do we know for certain, without that?" Shizune asked softly.

Jiraiya grunted. "One: Akatsuki is an organized alliance of powerful missing ninja from numerous villages. Two: Akatsuki has shown interest in acquiring beings of power, among them and of greatest importance to us personally, the Kyuubi."

"Three," Kakashi said, "known members. Uchiha Itachi, formerly of the Leaf's ANBU. Hoshigaki Kisame, formerly of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen."

Jiraiya nodded. "Kaida, formerly the Cloud's High Priestess of the Thunder Dragon, recently deceased. Akakawa Tetsu, formerly a general of the Cloud, long deceased." He sighed. "Orochimaru, formerly of the Leaf's Legendary Sannin and currently leader of the Sound, resigned." Tsunade spat on the ground.

"That's it?" Shizune asked. "You've been tracking these people for over a decade, Jiraiya-sama!"

"I told you," Jiraiya said, "almost everything I thought I knew is suspect, and Akatsuki didn't start moving openly until recently." He sighed. "One more member. An unknown former Rock ninja, with blond hair, and apparently more than the usual number of mouths on him, recently joined. I… briefly encountered him with Naruto, but we didn't fight." He paused. "Hmm. He didn't show much interest in Naruto, actually. Claimed the Kyuubi wasn't his target, which implies that each member or team has a specific one."

"Wait; back up," Kakashi said. "Akakawa Tetsu was a member of Akatsuki? I fought him, during the war with Cloud."

Jiraiya nodded. "He went missing ninja after the war. I ran into him when I was trying to track down Orochimaru, about the same time I met Kaida. She actually killed him in that fight." He shook his head. "We didn't realize what those outfits meant until Orochimaru's relatively public disagreement with Itachi-kun, though." A bitter look passed over his face. "I don't understand why Kaida joined them."

"Are we certain this Tetsu actually went missing ninja?" Tsunade asked.

"It is awfully suspicious," Shizune said. "Two of our known members are a respected Cloud general, and the High Priestess of the Thunder Dragon."

Jiraiya grunted. "That High Priestess of the Thunder Dragon killed the Raikage, you might recall," he said. "And I doubt Orochimaru, or Itachi, would sign on with something as simple as a rogue Cloud faction."

"Probably not," Tsunade agreed. "So, what do we do about this?"

Jiraiya grunted. "I'm sticking with the original plan. I take Naruto with me on my travels and train the kid in secret. We've got another three-year deadline to deal with, after all. Getting closer to two years every day."

Kakashi's visible eye closed. "Sasuke-kun," he whispered.

"Hmph." Tsunade laid a hand on a tree trunk. "That Uchiha brat has given us no end of trouble. I wish I hadn't woken him up."

"My fault," Kakashi said.

"No it isn't," Jiraiya said angrily. "That boy is responsible for his own damn choices, even with Orochimaru's seal on him. It can't bring out anything that wasn't already there at least a little, and you blocked its influence before it had too much time to work. Only his will could have let it loose again."

"He's just a kid," Kakashi said.

"So was Anko-chan," Jiraiya retorted.

"If anyone is to blame," Tsunade said, "it's Orochimaru." She smiled bitterly. "I also wish I'd answered when you sent me that message asking for help killing him when he first defected."

Jiraiya shrugged. "If wishes were fishes," he said. His face was hard. "I just hope I can beat enough sense into Naruto that he'll do what needs to be done, if it comes to that. Or at least not hate me, if I do it for him."

"You think he's beyond saving?" Shizune asked. Her voice was soft.

"I wish he wasn't," Jiraiya said. "But there isn't anything restraining that seal anymore, and he went with Orochimaru of his own free will."

"So did Anko-chan," Shizune stated.

Jiraiya winced. "That was a little different, Shizune."

"Everyone is different. Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan still think he can be saved," Shizune said, her voice rising. "This isn't your story retold with new faces! Sasuke-kun doesn't have to be his generation's Orochimaru."

"If we don't manage to end this one way or another in time," Tsunade said, "that won't matter, because he'll be my generation's Orochimaru."

The fire left Shizune. "Right," she whispered.

"Shadow Replication Technique." Everyone turned to look at Jiraiya, who sent his replication off into the night.

"I'd been thinking about it," he said. "But now I've decided. There's no time to waste, is there?"

"You're leaving tonight, then?" Tsunade asked.

Kakashi's eye widened. "On such short notice?"

"Last time the beans got spilled because Naruto's teammate's mother turned out to be a spy," Jiraiya said. "This time no one knows when he's leaving in advance." He paused. "Tsunade," he said.

"What?"

"Unless you've got other plans for him, I'm stealing Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi's eye managed to widen further. "What do you mean?"

"He still needs regular medical attention," Shizune protested.

"I'm not you two," Jiraiya said, "but if you give me instructions I can keep him from killing himself, I think." He sighed. "I need to rebuild my network almost from scratch. I need to train Naruto. Even shadow replications only go so far to help me be in two places at once.

"And it's a good idea, anyway," Jiraiya continued, "for there to be someone else to pick up the pieces if… well, I'm not able to finish the job, for whatever reason."

"Why me?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't be an idiot, Copy Ninja Sharingan Kakashi," Jiraiya said.

"…Right," he said. "I'm not… used to considering myself on your kind of level."

"Don't be arrogant either, kid," Jiraiya said amusedly. "You aren't, not yet." He grinned. "But with my help, you will be soon enough."

Tsunade grunted. "And any experience we can give Naruto fighting the Sharingan won't hurt either." Her face was grim. "For multiple reasons." She sighed. "All right. Kakashi-kun's already off all the duty rosters, anyway. Less paperwork to keep him off. Do you want me to relist him as missing in action, presumed dead? Thanks to this damn war, few enough people have been back in the village to know he's been rescued, and I can frighten them into staying silent."

Jiraiya shook his head. "No need for that. Akatsuki and Orochimaru already know he's alive."

"If we're leaving tonight," Kakashi said, "I need to pack, Jiraiya-sama."

"Go," the Toad Hermit ordered. "Be at the gate in two hours, and if you're late you can see if you have any better luck than Itachi-kun did trying to copy Rasengan. The hard way."

"Understood," Kakashi said, and then he was gone.

* * *

><p>There were only two ninja present in the cave. The other six figures standing in the rough circle were flickering and indistinct, transmitted from the corners of the known world by unique ninjutsu and incredible amounts of chakra. Together, they were eight of the most dangerous people in that world. Together, they were the criminal organization Akatsuki.<p>

One of the two ninja present swept the group with his strange, ringed eyes. "Losing Kaida hurts us," he said. "There's no way around that fact. We've lost easy access to promising targets. We can no longer consider Lightning Country a safe haven, and there's no telling how much the Cloud will learn of us once they sort out their… issues."

"I could collect a few bounties from their enemies," one of the flickering images offered. "Keep the chaos going."

"She was your partner, Kakuzu," a female voice stated. It came from the other physically present ninja. "I suppose the least you can do is avenge her death."

"It's not my fault she decided to play host to the Kyuubi without letting me know," Kakuzu replied.

"And it slipped through our fingers again," a hunched-over figure stated.

"We were faced by two of the legendary Sannin." The one who now spoke was Uchiha Itachi. "I saw no purpose in dying stupidly."

The first speaker's ringed eyes met the blurry image of Itachi's Sharingan. "I'm not pleased with you two, either," he said. "You've failed twice to capture the Kyuubi now. What am I to do with you?"

The figure standing next to Itachi raised a sword from his shoulder and pointed it at the man. "Hey," Hoshigaki Kisame said. "You might be the founder of this organization, 'Pain', but that doesn't make you a Kage to just hand out punishments. If I wanted that, I could have stayed with the Mist."

"Akatsuki is an alliance of equals," Itachi said softly.

"Hmm," another figure, until now silent, said. "I might be new here, but they are right."

"You would leave this organization over being chided for failure?" the woman who had spoken earlier said. "I'm surprised."

Itachi's eyes closed. "We have almost three years to capture our target still, by the original schedule. Even if we had captured it, we'd still have needed to keep it secure until we were ready for it. Orochimaru proved that wouldn't be easy."

"Orochimaru is a fool," the hunched-over figure stated.

"Enough," the man called Pain stated. He closed his own eyes briefly. "I apologize, Itachi-san, Kisame-san."

Kisame reshouldered his massive blade. "Apology accepted."

"We're down two members now," Itachi said after a moment, eyes still closed. "One we still can't replace, but Kisame and I were able to reach Kaida's body before the Cloud could search the battleground."

"There are some promising candidates," Pain said. "I will arrange tests. Konan will arrange a rendezvous with you to acquire Kaida's ring."

The woman who was with him in the cave bowed shallowly. "As you command."

"As for Orochimaru," Pain continued, "we will deal with him in due time."

"It's fast becoming due time," Kisame complained.

"You may be right," Pain said, "but we can't afford to strike hastily at him. He's too powerful and too crafty for us to be able to just show up at his base to try to kill him and hope to succeed. We slip up even a little, and he'll just kill as many of us as he can, then go so far underground it'll take years to find him again."

"I know that," Kisame grumbled.

"So accept it," Itachi said quietly.

Pain nodded, as though in gratitude for the Uchiha's support. "Are there any other difficulties with the other targets?" he asked after a moment.

"I'm still looking for a good one, hmm," the figure who had admitted to being a recent recruit said. "But I still have plenty of time, yes?" No one objected.

"Then let's get back to work," Pain said when it was clear no one had anything else to say. "We are Akatsuki. We are the dawn of a new era, and no force in this world can stop us."

* * *

><p>"That went well, I think," Sakura said as she and Naruto ascended the steps to his apartment. Naruto gave her a look, and she shrugged. "There was some yelling at first," she admitted, "but nobody hates you." She grimaced. "Not like the jerks you've got living in this building." She made a rude gesture at a random door.<p>

"Eh," Naruto said with a weak laugh. "You get used to it."

"Well, you shouldn't have to," Sakura said firmly. "Idiots, all of them."

They paused in front of Naruto's door. "Thank you," Naruto said, "for…"

They exchanged a look. Sakura drew a kunai, and Naruto summoned a shadow replication, which kicked in his unlocked door. When nothing attacked the replication, it vanished, and Sakura looked into the room.

Jiraiya was sitting at Naruto's kitchen table, a heavy pack resting in front of him. He looked up, seemingly having barely noticed the replication's earlier entry. "Where the hell have you two been?" he grumbled. "I've been waiting here for almost an hour. You better not have gotten her pregnant, brat. That's a complication we don't need right now."

Sakura flushed as she sheathed her weapon. "What the hell are you saying -"

"I guess not, then," Jiraiya interrupted with a grin. "I suppose you're still a little young yet."

"Ero-sennin," Naruto growled. His hands twitched.

"We were eating dinner with our friends!" Sakura exclaimed, still beet red.

"You left that restaurant almost the same time I showed up here," Jiraiya said. "And then the ANBU who were supposed to be watching you let Neji-kun call them off like a couple of sentimental idiots." His grin widened. "I know what my friends and I would have been up to at your ages."

"Tsunade-sama would have killed you," Sakura replied.

"Wait, Neji called off the ANBU?" Naruto asked.

The pink-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes. "We aren't supposed to know, so I didn't tell you before, but he got recruited into ANBU after the Chuunin Exams. That's why his team got broken up."

"Oh," Naruto said.

"And the ANBU only left earshot, according to him," Sakura complained at Jiraiya. "If you know all that, you know we weren't… we weren't… doing whatever crazy perverted thing you're thinking of!"

Jiraiya's grin just widened even more. Then it vanished and his face turned serious. "You told them all?" he asked seriously.

Naruto nodded. "Yes."

"Good. No one tried to kill you?"

"Of course not!" Sakura said. "What are you, stupid? Who the hell would do something like that?"

"Better and better." Jiraiya stood, and tossed the pack on the kitchen table at Naruto with one hand. The boy stumbled as he caught it. "We're leaving."

"Tonight?" Sakura asked quietly. "So soon?"

"There's no time to waste," Jiraiya said gently. "Not if we're going to have any chance at all to… save your friend." The hesitation was slight enough that Sakura almost didn't catch it, and she decided not to comment.

"We almost got him this time," Naruto said. He turned to Sakura. "We did it together, this time."

Sakura smiled despite herself. "And next time," she promised. "As many times as it takes."

A dark expression passed over Jiraiya's face. "Come on, then. You too, Sakura-chan. You'll want to say goodbye to Kakashi-kun."

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. "Why?"

"He'll be with me and Naruto this time," Jiraiya explained.

"That's awesome!" Naruto said, then put his backpack on. "Did you remember to pack some ramen?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Jiraiya said with a roll of his eyes.

Sakura hesitated, clenching her fists. "Jiraiya-sama," she said hesitatingly.

"What is it, girl?" he asked as he walked to the door.

"If I… if you could wait a minute so I could pack… could… could I come with you?"

Jiraiya stopped and turned around to look at her. He didn't say anything.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto breathed.

The kunoichi flushed again. "The last time I let you leave, and the last time I let Kakashi-sensei leave… it's impossible luck that you both came back safe from everything that happened. I… I couldn't handle it if something happened again, while I was safe back here, and we were less lucky this time." Her green eyes flashed. "I want to be able to protect the people who are precious to me!"

Now Naruto turned red. "Sakura-chan," he said again, but his teammate ignored him, keeping her gaze locked with Jiraiya's.

The Toad Hermit sighed. "You're supposed to be Tsunade's apprentice, Sakura-chan."

"Technically," Sakura allowed. "But she's the Hokage and we're at war." She clenched her fists. "Gods only know if she'll have any time to train me at all. I've learned more from Mitarashi-sensei so far. Like you said, there's no time to waste if we want to save Sasuke-kun."

"Look," Jiraiya said, "you're a genjutsu-type with strong chakra control. That's not my style any more than it is Naruto's. I could teach you a lot, but Tsunade, more than almost anyone else, will be able to turn you into one of the great ones. I guarantee it."

"If she teaches me," Sakura pressed. "I am not going to let myself be stuck just watching Naruto and Sasuke's backs again. Never again!"

Jiraiya sighed. "All right. How's this? Have Anko-chan teach you to use your snakes as messengers across long distances. If you still feel like you're wasting your time in… let's say six months, send me a message. If you do, I'll come back and steal you away from Tsunade. Deal?"

Sakura frowned, but after a moment she nodded. "Deal."

Jiraiya knelt down suddenly, resting a hand on both Naruto and Sakura's shoulders. "You two have set yourselves a great task," Jiraiya said. "The kind of task they tell legends about for generations. It won't be easy, but the Will of Fire burns brightly in both of you," he continued, "and if you don't let that fire be extinguished, Sarutobi-sensei always said that no force in this world could stop you."

Jiraiya hoped neither would notice that he hadn't mentioned what he thought of that.

* * *

><p>Author's Random Ramblings<p>

1) Howdy, y'all! Anyone remember me? It's been a while since I really wrote a fanfic, beyond finalizing and posting to this site a couple of small pieces I wrote years back. I'm not sure how this happened. I guess that finalizing got me back in the mood.

2) This story is a sequel to my earlier Naruto fanfiction, One Hundred Days. I'm trying to make it somewhat comprehensible without having read that story, but I do recommend it. I'm told it isn't too awful to struggle through. As with One Hundred Days, to the limited extent that this story has a pairing, if that's important to you, the pairing is Naruto/Sakura, but romance is not the primary focus of the story.

3) Also as with One Hundred Days, canon for this story is taken from the Naruto anime through the conclusion of the Rice Field Country filler arc. Since the original story was started almost six years ago, Naruto canon has gone down strange and unexpected paths. Even if I were inclined to, it would be impossible to match up enough with the various revelations to call this story a 'what if' divergence from canon.

4) So in other words, officially consider this story, and One Hundred Days retroactively, an alternate universe. I promise fewer generic Chosen One prophecies and plots to take over the world with magical moons than the leading competitor.

5) Despite choosing to limit my canon sources, as you probably noticed, I'm not above stealing characters or ideas from canon I'm ignoring if I have a use for them. However, I feel free to alter these characters and ideas to better suit my taste and the needs of the story. So I'd like to ask that you don't get annoyed when I reveal that Tobi is actually Kakashi's long-lost twin sister, Jiraiya's spy in Akatsuki, and also Sailor Moon.

6) Ordinarily, I wouldn't release a prelude on its own. But at over 8000 words and approximately 50 KB, I'd say this counts as a full chapter despite technically being a prelude, no? It also bodes poorly for my hopes for writing shorter, more digestible chapters.

7) Next time, in One Hundred Weeks, Chapter 1: One Year Later, the Hidden Village of the Sand is about to host the Chuunin Selection Exams, and Naruto and Sakura's paths are about to cross for the first time in a year…

Draft Started: April 10, 2011  
>Draft Finished: April 18, 2011<br>Draft Released: April 20, 2011  
>Final Released: April 26, 2011<p> 


	2. Chapter 1: One Year Later

One Hundred Weeks  
>A Naruto Fanfic<br>By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter 1: One Year Later

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: Contrary to its status in several improbable alternate universes, Naruto does not belong to me. It belongs to Kishimoto Masashi; I'm just borrowing it without permission. However, the blame for the actual text of this fanfiction is mine. Also, zucchini.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Week One<strong>

One year after their arrival in the Water Country, Yakushi Kabuto met the crimson gaze of Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan unafraid. Most likely, the boy was trying to work some genjutsu on him, but the hidden seals inscribed on the frames of Kabuto's glasses were more than sufficient protection against the untrained effort. For all the techniques that Orochimaru could teach his apprentice, the uses of the Sharingan were not among them. Of course, if Orochimaru could teach that, there would have been no need for the renegade Sannin to take Sasuke as an apprentice.

The past year of that apprenticeship had left its marks on the boy. Part of that was merely the passage of time - he was of an age when changes came rapidly and had grown taller with remarkable speed, beginning to gain the stature he would have as a man. He was thin - almost unhealthily so, much to Kabuto's continued annoyance - and pale. One arm bore a snake tattoo openly, though Sasuke rarely used the summons to which it granted him access. The dark kimono he wore did not hide the whole tracery of fading scars that told stories of training accidents, of battle wounds, or of Orochimaru's occasional displeasure. Kabuto knew a dozen medical techniques that he could have used to prevent scarring. He saw no point in using them on Uchiha Sasuke.

Kabuto's master stood on a balcony overlooking the training hall where his two servants faced each other. "I'm not pleased with the quality of information from your network of late." Orochimaru's statement was completely unnecessary, of course. Kabuto was no simpleton unable to grasp the reason for being ask to substitute for Sasuke's usual punching bags during this morning's warmup spar. He supposed Tayuya could use the break, though. Since he'd encouraged her to resume her efforts to seduce the boy last month, Sasuke had picked her as his opponent almost every day.

As though their master's voice was a signal, Sasuke charged. Kabuto wasn't foolish enough to engage the boy in simple hand-to-hand with the Sharingan active, and used a smoke bomb to gain some distance. A handful of senbon dealt with the shadow replication waiting for him to emerge from the cloud.

"It's hard to insert new agents into the Leaf now, since they've increased security," he answered Orochimaru. He formed seals. "Katon: Fire Dragon Blast!" The stream of fire that spewed out of his mouth forced Sasuke to break off his next attack, briefly illuminating the usually dim training hall. "Most of what we can get is second or third hand," he continued as though he hadn't had to interrupt his response.

Kabuto summoned a shadow replication of his own, which advanced on his opponent while spitting a constant stream of small fireballs. He continued his report. "We might have better luck over the next year, if they start to trust the Hidden Music a little."

Orochimaru laughed at the mention of the recently formed village in Rice Field Country. Those remnants of the Sound that had not fled to Water Country to join Orochimaru had united with the rebel, Leaf-allied clans to fight the Rock that had occupied much of their homeland. "I just received word that the Music will get an invitation to the next Chuunin Exams." Only a handful in that village knew that their leader was loyal to Orochimaru. "Tsunade-hime is far too softhearted."

Sasuke finished dealing with Kabuto's replication, and the medical ninja returned his full attention to the fight. A half-instant later, he dropped an active explosive tag where he stood and vanished. He reappeared behind Sasuke's replication, which had been fighting his own, and disrupted it with a single strike to the base of its spine. The real Sasuke emerged from the stone floor a safe distance from the explosive tag, which sparked and died without exploding. "A dud," he growled, sounding offended.

Kabuto hadn't seen any need to waste a real tag when the dud accomplished the same purpose. "The Leaf are desperate for new allies," he commented to Orochimaru. "There's rumors of every village from Cloud to Oasis getting special invites."

"Katon: Phoenix Flame Technique!" A storm of small fireballs escaped Sasuke's lips and converged on Kabuto.

The medical ninja formed a seal with one hand. "Fuuton: Vacuum Technique." There was a brief breeze as air fled the area in front of Sasuke's attack. With only the small amount of chakra Sasuke had invested in them to fuel them, the flames died before they could cross the airless pocket. Then senbon Kabuto had readied in his other hand dealt with the shuriken Sasuke had hidden in the flames.

"I feel an urge to make the upcoming exams more exciting," Orochimaru said. "After what the Rain tried to pull at Grass last time, it's clearly become a tradition."

"Tried is the operative word, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied as he calmly hurled another set of senbon at his opponent. Sasuke expertly parried them with a kunai.

"True," Orochimaru allowed. "It would be nice if something finally happened to push the Rock to declare war on the Leaf, though."

Sasuke began to advance, only to stop as he noticed the wires Kabuto had attached to his senbon. Kabuto twitched his hand, and animated them with his chakra. The boy leapt back, forming seals. "Fuuton: Desert Knives," he snarled. Harsh winds cut sand out of the stone walls, the growing sandstorm making it impossible for Kabuto to control his wires.

The medical ninja dropped them, forming his own seals. "Fuuton: Breakthrough Technique," he stated, letting out a breath that turned into a powerful gust of wind. The burst overwhelmed Sasuke's technique and flung him back against the far wall. Kabuto risked a glance up at his master. "The detente will end eventually," he said.

"I grow tired of these half-wars," Orochimaru replied. "They were fun for a while, but I'm bored with foreplay."

The sound of chirping birds warned Kabuto that Sasuke was growing frustrated. "Katon: Great Fireball Technique!" Kabuto breathed out a continuous torrent of flame, forming a giant fireball that extended across the breadth of the training hall. Sasuke was forced to abort his attack, the bright light of the Chidori shining through the fire for a moment before dying. When the flames began to die, Kabuto grinned as he saw the marking of Orochimaru's cursed seal spreading across the boy's face.

"I've heard some of your former associates are planning to make an appearance at the exams," Kabuto told his master, as he used the Body Flicker Technique to move behind his opponent. He didn't get more explicit, as Akatsuki was one of the few topics Orochimaru deemed not suitable for his apprentice's ears. The less Sasuke knew of Itachi and his allies, the less chance of a futile attempt to escape and confront his brother on his own.

"That could be interesting," Orochimaru allowed. "They've been quiet for the past year."

Sasuke dodged Kabuto's casual kick toward the back of his knee. He spun about to face the medical ninja, but Kabuto had already regained his distance. Sasuke advanced, walking directly into the trap Kabuto had prepared with a quick earth technique. "So have we," Kabuto pointed out. "Everyone needed time to rebuild their strength or secure their gains after the prior year." Kabuto smiled as he watched Sasuke pull himself out of the floor with his own earth element abilities. "And that just plays into our hands. It'll only be a year and a half or so until you are ready, yes?"

Oddly enough, Orochimaru's plans to take Sasuke's body were, if anything, a preferred topic in front of the boy. Kabuto personally wouldn't have risked scaring Sasuke into fleeing, but his master felt it reminded the Uchiha of the simple devil's bargain he had made, and what he stood to gain. When the time came, Sasuke would give Orochimaru his body. In return, the renegade Sannin would use it to kill Uchiha Itachi, in the likely event Sasuke did not accomplish the task before then.

"Approximately," Orochimaru said as Sasuke finished standing. "Three years is the minimum, but the last transfer was hasty, and may take longer to recover from. I do not want to risk complications."

"How long then?" Kabuto asked curiously. It was unlike his master to be overly cautious, but Kabuto approved in this case. Perhaps fearing another trap, Sasuke did not advance, waiting for Kabuto to attack.

"Perhaps an additional half a year," Orochimaru said. Two years from now, then. "You're dismissed, Kabuto-kun."

Kabuto nodded and turned to walk away, not sparing his opponent with a glance. Sasuke growled behind him, clearly eager to continue the fight to a conclusion, but a year and a half of Orochimaru's training had taught him enough that he didn't protest beyond that.

"Good boy," Kabuto said, drawing another growl, and then he left. The smirk didn't leave his face for almost an hour.

* * *

><p>At the age of fourteen - almost fifteen - Haruno Sakura was far from displeased with what she saw in the mirror as she waited for her master to finish her early morning meeting. It was not much like the visions of an elegant kunoichi she had dreamed of in the academy a scant two years ago, but she had discarded those fantasies. A real female ninja did not look much like the heroines gracing the covers of girls' manga.<p>

The chuunin uniform she wore was not the elegant dress she had dreamed of, and it would never be considered a fashion statement. The only bit of individual deviation she allowed herself had other, practical purposes. She wore a short-sleeved uniform shirt, even though the dying winter's chill had not yet left the forests of the Fire Country. The lower parts of her arms were instead wrapped in bandages, down to the fingerless leather gloves she wore. First, these served to cover the tattoo that marked her as a snake summoner while still allowing easy access in battle. Second, a simple technique could charge the bandages with her chakra, turning them into weapons.

She also lacked the ample, womanly curves of the manga heroines. Unless one worked to cultivate it, there was no softness to a woman who practiced taijutsu for hours every day, who burned physical energy to form chakra for ninjutsu and genjutsu practice for hours more, and who spent much of what time was left running messages throughout the village for the Hokage. Even though she ate amounts that would have horrified any civilian woman, she was lean and hard, with precious little fat on her frame.

One place where Sakura compromised from her newer dream image as a practical, non-nonsense ninja was in her hair. Civilian woman, or at least respectable civilian women, simply did not cut their hair short in the Fire Country. She'd had to grow her hair out to almost its old length for an undercover mission at a minor daimyo's court a few months ago. On her return, she'd cut it, but only to slightly above shoulder length - long enough to pass as a merchant or tradesman's daughter, but short enough to not get in the way.

The door to Tsunade's office opened, and Sakura tore herself from her self-reflection to see who the Hokage had been meeting with before the official start of business for the day. As the heavily bandaged, older man emerged, Sakura gave him a shallow but respectful bow. "Good morning, Shimura-sensei," she offered.

Shimura Danzo smiled faintly at her. "Ah, good morning, Haruno-kun." His hand twitched, and that was all the warning Sakura had.

Sakura's own hands formed a seal. "Release," she said softly, before whatever genjutsu the man had activated could affect her. There was no force behind the attack, and the illusion shattered before it finished forming. "I haven't forgotten your lessons that quickly, Shimura-sensei."

The man's smile widened slightly, and Sakura grinned back at him. "Hokage-sama said to send you right in," he told her.

"Thank you," Sakura said, and she slipped past the man into her teacher's office.

"Sakura," Tsunade said in greeting, but she didn't look up, intently studying an open scroll on her desk.

"Is something wrong, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked as she shut the door behind her.

One of Tsunade's hands made a brief journey through the air. "Of course," she said, "but not out of the ordinary. The usual fun stuff."

"Mist or Rock?" Sakura asked.

"Rumors that the Tsuchikage and Mizukage are going to hold a meeting in the Valley Country," Tsunade replied. "Probably nothing, but…" She trailed off with a sigh. In their weakened state, the Leaf would be unable to withstand an alliance between two of the other great powers, even with the Sand's support.

"No training this afternoon?" Sakura asked.

"Probably not," Tsunade admitted, "but I'll see if Shizune-chan can free up some time to work with you a little on your first aid." Tsunade set her scroll aside and searched through the stacks of papers littering her desk for another. "I have a new mission coming up for you, anyway. A-rank diplomatic, so you'll get good pay for little risk."

"An A-rank diplomatic?" Sakura asked, a little shock in her voice. That was an unusual combination.

"The Sand will be holding the next Chuunin Selection Exams in about a month," Tsunade said. "I need to someone to head over and represent the Leaf in the preparations, and probably to attend the finals in my stead." She smiled. "Even if it weren't for the war, it'd be a little offensive for me to show up when they still haven't picked a new Kazekage." She shoved a stack of papers over roughly as she continued her search.

Sakura blinked. "Why me? Isn't it offensive to just send a young chuunin, also?"

Tsunade sighed and stopped her search. "You really don't realize your position, do you? You're my apprentice. That means that sending you is only a step below a personal appearance by me, even if you are just a young chuunin. Only Shizune would be more appropriate, and I can't spare her." She smiled. "And you made a little bit of a name for yourself in that mess at Grass too, so the Sand will be glad to fill out your bingo book entry a little."

Sakura flushed. "I barely did anything," she said. "Anko-sensei just thought it was funny to give me the credit for those snakes."

Tsunade shuddered theatrically. "Anko-sensei. That's still scary, girl."

Sakura smiled. "She mentioned she was thinking of trying for full jounin again so she could get herself a team, since she did so well with me."

"Gods protect our poor genin," Tsunade whispered.

"Seriously," Sakura said, "I'm no diplomat. What am I supposed to do on this mission?"

"It's mostly ceremonial," Tsunade said, "and you'll act as point of contact between the Sand and our teams once they arrive." She smiled again. "I'm not throwing you to the wolves here. I'm going to assign a couple ninja with the right experience to back you up once I've finished going through the duty rosters to see who we can spare." She stared at the mess on her desk, her face turning grim. "If I can find the duty rosters."

Sakura laughed, then she turned serious. "So what's on the agenda for today, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade sighed. "Go figure out where Shikamaru-kun is lazing around this morning. By the time you find him, I'll have this sorted out and some messages for you to run. While you're looking, see if you can find where Shizune-chan hid my sake this time."

Sakura smiled. "Who says it was Shizune-sama?"

She wasn't able to stop herself from laughing as she let Tsunade's mock-glare chase her from the room.

* * *

><p>On maps, the western border of the Wind Country was rarely depicted. Cartographers usually showed the country extending far across the harsh desert, the only limit being the edge of the map itself. In reality, the rule of the daimyo was concentrated in the towns and cities of the gentler eastern lands, the lush river valleys that fed them, and the roads that connected them. The reach of the ninja of the Hidden Sand was longer, as hidden fortresses and allied clan strongholds dotted the desert, and perhaps their control, more than anything, defined the true borders of the Wind Country.<p>

This evening, one year after the second time he left the Leaf Village with Jiraiya on his training trip, Uzumaki Naruto was beyond any of those borders, deep in the deserts where civilization had yet to reach and only the nomads ruled. As he stood on a rocky outcropping overlooking an oasis currently occupied by the encampment of the Howling Moon nomad tribe, he looked little different than he had a year ago. Sure, the last of his favorite orange jumpsuits had been accidentally-on-purpose burned beyond repair months back. Sure, he had grown taller like a weed, gained muscles from long and hard training, earned his fair share of small scars from the same training, and of late tanned under the desert sun. A little maturity might have even snuck in there at some point, though Jiraiya was loath to admit it. Yet in all the important ways, he was the same.

There was the same mischievous glint in his eyes when he had a plan. There was the same open, friendly stance when he met someone new. There was the same bright, excited grin as he stared down at his opponent. Finally, there was the same boastful pride as he promised, "This time I'll win for sure."

Jiraiya let out a bark of laughter. "The day you make me bleed, brat, is a long way away." He smiled. "But impress me enough, make me sweat, and I'll give you the victory anyway. I'm tired of fighting over this."

Naruto paused as he considered this. "The same deal, even if I don't make you bleed?" he asked carefully.

Jiraiya smiled. "The same. Give me a decent workout, and we'll go to the Chuunin Exams when Sand holds them." He was planning on that in any case, for multiple reasons, but the prize had proved a remarkable motivator for the past week. "If you can't, you have to study… let's make it the First Tsuchikage's rebellion against the Cloud and the founding of the Hidden Rock for tonight."

Naruto's shadow replications erupted from the sand around Jiraiya. The Toad Hermit blurred into motion, grabbing one and throwing it into a second, then jumping on top of a third. He leapt away an instant later, leaving a weak explosive tag behind. A cloud of smoke formed from the explosion and disrupted clones.

The Naruto on the outcropping caught a kunai Jiraiya threw. He parried the second blade with the first, then sent it back Jiraiya's way. It bounced off the small boulder Jiraiya left behind as he used the replacement technique. The legendary Sannin reappeared behind Naruto, casually slitting its throat with another kunai. When the smoke from the disrupting replication dispersed, it revealed a massive hand of sandy rock reaching for the old ninja.

One more kunai dealt with that, the explosive tag wrapped around the hilt shattering the stone hand. Jiraiya's expert senses followed the trail from the dying technique to where Naruto - likely the real one - knelt, one hand pressed on the ground. "Grasping Hand Technique," Jiraiya commented. "You haven't pulled that one out in a while."

Naruto didn't say anything, and Jiraiya jumped away seconds before more shadow replications emerged underneath his feet. Another Naruto was waiting for him as he landed, chakra spinning in one hand. "Too slow," Jiraiya said. "Fuuton: Breakthrough Technique." The burst of wind was just strong enough to fling Naruto away without hurting him, and Jiraiya was glad for his caution when that Naruto used the replacement technique to avoid the full force of the wind. He could usually tell which Naruto was real, but it could get tricky sometimes.

Jiraiya followed his student, but now Naruto kept running. "You can't beat me that way," Jiraiya commented as he stopped rather than move further from the encampment. Perhaps the boy had set a trap out there?

The kunai came from behind him, and Jiraiya left behind a shadow replication to die in his stead. "Not bad," he admitted as he reversed course, doubling back to find the real Naruto waiting for him, a clone on either side. The real one extended both hands, and the clones set to work, hands dancing as chakra began to whirl.

"Seriously?" Jiraiya asked, wanting to sigh. He stopped short of his student. "I've told you before, that's a stupid attack." Naruto just grunted, and Jiraiya formed a seal before spitting out two small fireballs. Both clones vanished, and the chakra gathering in Naruto's hands spun harmlessly out of control. Jiraiya didn't let up, forming more seals. "Katon: Phoenix Flame Technique," he exhaled, and his breath turned into a host of more fireballs.

Naruto let out a breath of his own. "Whirlwind Shield!" A storm of wind batted the flames aside, and Naruto retook the offensive. "Fuuton: Zephyr Step!" He jumped and the wind rose with him, hurling him at Jiraiya with incredible speed.

The Sannin just waited. By the time Naruto reached him, the boy was out of control, flailing wildly through the air. Jiraiya reached out, grabbing Naruto and depositing him on the sand safely, if ungently. "You don't have the control for that technique yet, brat," Jiraiya said. "We both know that."

"Fuuton: Wind Shuriken." The voice was feminine, and Jiraiya didn't react fast enough to the unexpected intervention. The blade of wind scored a shallow gash across his cheek.

Jiraiya rubbed at the wound as he looked sourly at his student and the young nomad who emerged from behind a boulder. "That doesn't count," he grumbled.

Naruto just grinned widely as he stood, nodding his thanks to his friend. "Which answer do you want?" he asked. "The stupid one?" His face suddenly darkened, becoming grim and emotionless. "Ninja are nothing but tools," he intoned. "Aya attacked under my orders, as my weapon, no different than the kunai in my hand."

The woman sniffed. "See if I help you next time," she stated.

Naruto's expressionless mask cracked. "I said it was the stupid answer," he said, grin returning.

Jiraiya sighed. "Next you'll give me the teamwork lecture, I suppose? Spare me." Green chakra flared around his fingers, and the wound on his face was gone as though it had never been.

Naruto laughed. "I still made you bleed."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Aya of the Howling Moon made me bleed."

"Then maybe you have to take me to see the Chuunin Exams," Aya replied.

"And you can't leave me behind when you do," Naruto added.

Jiraiya ignored him for a moment, turning his attention to the girl Naruto had befriended over the past month. He studied her for a moment, although not in the way he was famous for. For all that she was a year or two older than Naruto, she was still too young for him, and not that attractive even with a few years added mentally, and that was discounting the crooked nose left behind from a training accident in her youth. Maybe if she did something with that short dirty blond hair, wore something more flattering than a plain beige tunic…

Jiraiya sighed, refocusing his attention. "Why do you want to go see the Chuunin Exams, girl?"

Aya shrugged. "I'm curious," she said. "Naruto's talked so much about how awesome the exams are."

"I doubt that's it." Naruto and her hadn't become more than friends, had they? Jiraiya would surely have noticed something like that.

Aya met Jiraiya's gaze for a moment, then turned away. "If I like what I see there," she said quietly, "I'm thinking of staying. I'd hardly be the first apprentice sand priest to run off and become a ninja instead."

Jiraiya glanced at Naruto briefly. "Your master might never speak to me again," he said slowly, "if he thinks my student's filled your head with tales to make you abandon him."

"Everyone knows Hiroto will be the tribe's next priest," Aya said, her gaze on the ground. "Master Nori isn't going to pick an orphan girl over his own son."

Jiraiya stared up at the slowly darkening heavens. "Let me guess. If you stay here, you're most likely going to become Hiroto's bride, but you don't care for him that way. Naruto somehow got you to tell him all about it, probably during that big fight you two had a couple weeks ago, and he convinced you to get me to help you run away and join the Sand?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed. "You're pretty good, Ero-sennin."

"You're pretty predictable, brat," Jiraiya retorted. He closed his eyes briefly. "Did it occur to either of you to just ask Nori for permission?" The two exchanged a glance, and Jiraiya sighed. "Nori's a good man, Aya-chan. He doesn't want you to be unhappy."

"I know," Aya whispered. "I just…"

"I'll talk to him," Jiraiya said gently. "But he deserves to hear this from you."

"I know," Aya repeated, and when Naruto laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, Jiraiya decided it was time to take his leave and figure out how he was going to break this to his old friend.

* * *

><p>"You're late, Sakura-taichou," Sarutobi Asuma said, smirking around a cigarette. He was leaning against the village wall beside the open gates. Standing beside him was a purple-haired woman Sakura vaguely recognized from having fought alongside her during the Mist attack the prior year.<p>

Sakura jumped down from the roof of the guardhouse across the street, landing before the two jounin. "I suppose she was Kakashi-sempai's student," the woman said, her eyes rolling.

Sakura flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I was…" Sakura trailed off. There really wasn't any good excuse, even if she had needed to ask Ino to check in on Naruto's apartment while she was away. Sure, the neighbors had never stooped to vandalism the whole time she'd been living there, but she wouldn't put it past them. They hated Naruto so much, for such an absurd reason, and they weren't terribly fond of her either.

"Lost on the road of life, Sakura-taichou?" Asuma finished for her. He puffed contentedly on his cigarette.

"Don't call me that, Asuma-sensei." Sakura could feel her blush deepen. "It's embarrassing. You're a jounin."

"No can do, Sakura-taichou," Asuma said, fake regret shading every word. "As her personal representative, you're in command of the mission by orders of the Fifth Hokage herself. Who am I to contradict her?"

Sakura glared at the man. "Doesn't that mean I can have you jailed for insubordination?" The female jounin laughed, and Sakura turned to her. "I know we've met," she said, "but I'm sorry to say I don't recall your name." Tsunade hadn't figured out who would be accompanying her when she'd gotten her formal orders yesterday.

The woman straightened and delivered a formal salute. "Jounin Uzuki Yuugao reporting for duty, Sakura-taichou!"

Sakura stared at her, then buried her face in her hands. "Did Anko-sensei put you up to this?"

"No, sir!" Yuugao barked out, drawing a groan from Sakura. "Sarutobi and I came up with it all by ourselves!"

The gate guards were snickering, and one of them walked over. "Do you want us to take these two into custody, ma'am?" she asked Sakura, her respectful tone ruined by the twitching as she struggled to keep her mouth straight.

Sakura just sighed. "Let's just get moving," she said.

"Yes, sir!" Sakura didn't dignify the pair of jounin with a response as she headed through the gates.

The three ninja traveled together in silence for a short while. "Are you still mad, Sakura-chan?" Asuma asked, chuckling, when it became clear she wasn't going to say anything.

Sakura glared at him. "Not Sakura-taichou?" she asked.

"It's not as much fun without an audience," Yuugao pointed out, a smirk reappearing on her face.

"Just remember who gets to write the mission report," Sakura threatened.

Asuma laughed. "Thank the gods," he said. "You will learn to hate those things."

Sakura sighed. "I already do. You don't think Hokage-sama actually reads all of the D-rank reports herself? Let me tell you, Gai-sensei in prose is no better than in person."

"He picked up a new genin team from the last class, I hear," Yuugao stated.

Sakura nodded. "He did. How is your team doing, Yuugao-san?" she asked, remembering that the woman had entered her team into the Chuunin Exams when Sakura had passed.

"We missed the last exams, since Hokage-sama only let a few teams go to Grass," she answered. "But I think we'll go all the way this time."

"Ino will never let Chouji live it down if he doesn't make it this time," Asuma commented. "He's one of the last genin from you 'Rookie Nine', isn't he, Sakura-chan?"

"Shino and Kiba passed at Grass," Sakura agreed. "That leaves him and Hinata." She shrugged. "And Naruto, of course." And someone else, who she tried not to think about. "Who's Chouji teaming with?" Last she had heard, he was still working with another of the genin teams from the class below them.

"Daikoku didn't want to nominate his team," Asuma said. "He's a little overprotective, after what happened." Sakura grimaced. That team had lost a member to a Rain ambush. "Chouji's still looking for teammates, but I'm sure he'll find some."

"Are you thinking of applying for a new team when the next class graduates, Sarutobi?" Yuugao asked.

Asuma didn't say anything, and Sakura looked back to see him grimacing. "I would," he said after a moment, "but Hokage-sama has other plans for me. I'll be heading east after the exams."

Sakura grimaced herself, having delivered far too many mission scrolls with those same orders, to join the frontline companies facing the Mist. The reports described the fighting as light, and compared to the initial Mist invasion that had been repelled a year ago, it was. That didn't mean that it wasn't war.

She almost said, "Good luck," but stopped herself in time. She only wished that she knew what was the right thing to say in answer to that.

* * *

><p><strong>Week Two<strong>

The tendril of sand snared Naruto's shadow replication and lifted it up into the air. The sand whipped around, wielding the captive replication like a club to disperse the other Naruto surrounding it. One Naruto, hanging back, began to run a circle around the sand's reach. The sand rope collapsed, then re-emerged beneath that Naruto, snaking around his ankle.

"Got you!" Aya said, kneeling a short distance away with one hand against the desert sand.

Naruto just grinned at her as he formed a seal. "Fuuton: Zephyr Step." Aya's eyes widened, and Naruto flung into the air. The sand kept its grasp for only an instant. Free, Naruto flew at Aya.

She just watched as he passed her, slamming into a sand dune at full speed. Keeping her hand on the sand, she turned to face him. "What's the point of that?" she asked. Her other hand touched the ground, and the sand enveloped Naruto.

There was a puff of smoke. "Underneath the underneath," Naruto commented as he lightly tapped Aya on the shoulder from behind. "Ninja have to look for it. There's more to a fight than just techniques."

Watching them from a safe distance, Jiraiya began to laugh. "I never thought I'd see the day you were giving someone that lesson," he said.

"I would think so powerful a ninja as Naruto-san claims to be could win against someone like Aya without resorting to trickery." The complaint came from Aya's fellow apprentice sand priest, Hiroto, who sat beside the Toad Hermit. Like most of the youth of their tribe, he looked as though he could have been Aya's sibling, though one several years younger.

Jiraiya gave the boy a long look. "I would think my old friend Nori could raise a son who was less of a fool."

Naruto helped Aya up, and turned to face his teacher and the other boy. "I would think so accomplished a sand priest wouldn't be scared to spar with me," he said.

"Naruto!" Aya exclaimed.

"What?" he asked. "Hiroto-san asked to come with us to the Exams. I don't know why, if he's going to be such an asshole." He stared at Hiroto. "Put up or shut up."

Hiroto stood. "Very well. I, Hiroto of the Howling Moon, accept your challenge, ninja."

Jiraiya sighed. "You know, I had enough of brats brawling over stupid pride a generation ago," he told the uncaring night sky. "Come over here, Aya-chan, there'll be no stopping them now."

The girl glared at Naruto for a moment then stalked away. Hiroto passed her as he walked toward his foe, and spared her a glance. "I'll show you what your boyfriend is really made of and him what a real sand priest can do."

Aya turned her glare on Hiroto. "If you're trying to convince me to stay with the tribe, you're doing a piss-poor job," she said. "I changed my mind, Naruto, kick his ass!" She stalked away toward Jiraiya.

As soon as she had passed, Hiroto knelt, shoving both hands into the ground. "Desert Wave!" he proclaimed, and the sand before him rose up.

Naruto sighed as he watched the sand advance. "I've seen better," he commented. He waited until the sand was about to crash down on him before acting. His hands blurred into seals, then one thrust up into an open palm strike. "Fuuton: Gale Palm!"

A spiral of wind erupted from his hand, ripping through the sand wave like tissue paper. Streams of sand flew everywhere, and the weakened remnants of the wave crashed to the ground on either side of Naruto. Untouched, the ninja strolled through the hole his technique had made in Hiroto's attack.

The sand priest stared at his opponent in shock. "But… but your wind techniques suck!" he said.

"My problem with wind, Hiroto-san," Naruto said, a grim smile on his face, "is control, not power. If I hadn't aimed upward, you might be dead already." He glanced behind the other boy. "And Ero-sennin and Aya-chan might be hurt." Jiraiya sniffed loudly. "If Ero-sennin was stupider than usual and did nothing," Naruto added hastily.

"Naruto," Jiraiya growled slowly.

His student ignored him. "My turn," he told Hiroto, and began to slowly advance.

Hiroto took a deep breath. "I won't give you the chance!" He hurled two handfuls of sand into the air. "Fuuton: Sand Needles!" The clouds of sand formed into long, thin lances that hovered a moment before racing at Naruto.

Naruto let out his own breath. "Whirlwind Shield!" A chaotic storm of wind erupted before him, and the sand needles went flying in all directions when they hit it. Naruto held out a hand, and chakra danced for a moment, then died. "No, I don't want to kill you," he commented.

"Shut up!" Hiroto snarled, reaching for more sand.

Naruto kicked at the ground, and a cloud of sand obscured him for an instant. When it faded, he was behind Hiroto, holding a water bottle in one hand. He poured it on his other. "Suiton: Pressure Bullet!"

Hiroto's eyes widened, and then a globe of water slammed into his backside, throwing him face first onto the sand.

"No trickery involved," Naruto commented. "Yield?"

Hiroto sighed. "I yield."

Naruto offered him a hand. Hiroto rolled over, and stared at it suspiciously. "What's underneath the underneath of this?" he asked. "You want to become my friend, so you can steal me away from the tribe also?"

"I'm not stealing anyone from anyone," Naruto said. "Aya-chan can make her own decisions."

"She never talked about leaving m- the tribe, until you came!" Hiroto spat out bitterly.

"What do you care about her?" Naruto asked angrily. "All you do is talk down to her because she isn't as good at those stupid sand techniques as you are!"

"Stupid…" Hiroto grimaced. "Those are the sacred techniques handed down from generation to generation of sand priests! The favor of Lady-"

"So what?" Naruto interrupted. "I know a ninja with more powerful sand techniques than even Nori-sensei. Does that mean he's a better sand priest or whatever than him?"

"A ninja with more powerful sand techniques than Master Nori?" Aya asked.

Naruto looked up, and saw that Jiraiya and the girl had walked up while he'd been talking with Hiroto. "Yeah, my friend Gaara!" he said with a smile. "I'll introduce you when we're in the Sand Village!"

"Your friend Gaara?" Jiraiya asked amusedly. "Does he know that you're friends?"

Naruto was silent for a moment before answering. "Probably. I think." He glanced down at Hiroto and waved his still-outstretched hand. "You planning on getting up any time soon, jerk?"

Hiroto grimaced and took Naruto's hand and let the ninja help him up. "This Gaara is more powerful than Master Nori? I'll believe it when I see it."

Naruto just grinned at him.

* * *

><p>The attack on the small trade town along the great river that gave the River Country its name came while Sakura and her nominal subordinates were staying there. Afterward, when there was time to worry about such things, they determined to a reasonable degree of confidence that this was mere chance. The targets were the the river boats tied up at the docks laden with trade goods and the local daimyo who was worth a small ransom. The presence of the trio of Leaf ninja or the Sand squad on its way to escort them to their village was completely unexpected.<p>

That evening, when she was writing a quick report for Yuugao to take back to the Fire Country border with their share of the prisoners, Sakura realized how bad the situation seemed on paper. The opposing force was a full platoon of Rain ninja - nine genin, three chuunin, and a jounin commander. Allied forces consisted of a dozen or so town guards, completely useless, and one four-man squad of Sand consisting of three genin and a chuunin commander, still an hour out of town at normal pace when hostilities began. Her own forces consisted of Sakura herself and two jounin, separated about the town and unprepared for combat.

In the heat of the moment, even if this knowledge had been available, there was no time to consider it. Sakura was walking along the docks, keeping an eye out for the arrival of the Sand escort, when she saw the bolt of fire rise into the sky from the outskirts of town and explode into a brilliant, ruby red burst of fire. Her eyes widened, as she recognized the message of the simple signal flare: "We're under attack!"

That was when she realized that there was something off about the nearby boats, that none of the docks workers had seemed to notice the flare. Sakura brought her hands together into a seal. "Release!" The boats were suddenly swarming with Rain ninja in white jumpsuits, crewmen and workers lying dead or unconscious. They didn't seem to have noticed her, and Sakura took a moment to plan before acting.

Strike fast, strike hard, and don't stop moving. Those were the rules for attacking superior numbers from ambush. The thought of retreating didn't occur to her. Sakura's hands moved through seals, and then she reached for her special kunai. It was a gift from Ino's father, a belated and far too expensive congratulations for becoming a chuunin. "Katon: Blazing Blade," she whispered, and her chakra ran down the seals inscribed on the blade, surrounding it in a nimbus of fire.

She took a deep breath, and jumped high into the air, above the roofs of the nearest building. With expert precision, she threw her fiery weapon straight at one of the enemy ninja, near the center of the crowd. Her hands blurred into more seals. "Kunai Shadow Replication Technique." Her thrown weapon became three, then nine, then dozens. Each passed straight through one of the enemy ninja.

Sakura smiled grimly as the enemies she attacked partially dissolved into mist, large holes in their chests where her fire had burned it away. As she had thought, then. She landed on the deck of one of the ships in a crouch. She didn't let the brief wave of weakness from the chakra expenditure of creating so many shadow replications show. Her hands formed another seal. "Mist Concealment Technique!" she shouted.

There was a brief moment of resistance as her technique struggled against the enemies', but then the coils of mist began to thicken, the clones dissolving as their substance was hijacked by Sakura's technique. Sakura didn't waste chakra maintaining the technique, letting it drop as soon as the replications were completely destroyed. Then she jumped away, seconds ahead of a line of kunai, explosive tags dangling from their hilts. They detonated, and the ship was wreathed in smoke. That was when the civilians on the waterfront street realized what was happening, and began to run.

Sakura landed safely back on the dock, in front of the three remaining enemies. "Hey, Oboro," one of them said. "It's that pink-haired bitch again."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You three? Seriously? Are you the only genin in your whole country or something?" she asked. She had thought she recognized these ninja, from the Chuunin Exams the first time. Then from the Tea Country, and then from the Chuunin Exams the second time. What was it with these three? Behind her back, one hand filled with shuriken.

She and her enemies attacked at the same time, her shuriken flying at the same time as a kunai thrown from behind at her heart. Sakura moved, throwing herself to one side and blurring into motion, getting behind the three ninja in front of her and forming a seal with one hand. "Katon: Claw of the Fire Dragon!"

Talons of fire extended from her other hand, raking the three enemies. There was a brief hiss of steam, and they dissolved into water. "Water replications, huh?" Sakura asked the empty air, unsurprised. So where were the real ones then? Underground somewhere, if past experience was anything to go by.

She didn't waste any more time, taking to the air once more. A stream of water in the shape of a serpent slammed into the ground where she'd been standing. Sakura palmed and quickly swallowed a soldier pill. Energy filled her, and when she landed on the street she channeled chakra to her feet and stomped. The cobblestones shattered under her shoe, and the earth opened up.

Sakura wanted to collapse, her leg muscles burning from the strain, but she stood strong as she watched her battered enemies pulling themselves from the ground. She formed a single seal with one hand, summoning her special kunai back to her other in a puff of smoke. It caught fire as her hand wrapped around the hilt, river water evaporating to steam in an instant. "Had enough?" she asked.

After a moment, the three Rain genin, unable to stand, raised their hands in surrender. That was when the chuunin in charge of their squad tried to decapitate Sakura with her two-handed broadsword.

Sakura ducked out of the way, her flaming kunai sliding along the edge of her enemy's sword, deflecting it away from her. The enemy brought the heavy weapon back around, but Sakura had time to use the Replacement Technique, leaving behind a barrel of salted fish to be cut in two. Sakura landed on a nearby rooftop and pondered her options.

"Great Cutting Whirlwind!" A wave of cutting wind cut the enemy kunoichi in two at the waist and continued down the waterfront street, sending barrels flying and shattering storefront windows.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, letting the flames surrounding her weapon die and sheathing it before jumping to the ground beside the source of the unexpected attack. "Your arrival is timely, Temari-san."

The fan user glanced at her, then at the three Sand genin behind her. "Tenma, Ryoichi, go secure those three." She gestured with her fan at the three Rain genin, who nervously raised their hands again, staying on the ground, their eyes on the bloody mess that remained of their commander. One of the pair of Sand genin gave Sakura a nervous glance as he passed her, but Sakura ignored that for the moment. "You're Haruno Sakura, right? What's the situation?" Temari asked simply.

Sakura nodded. "Seems to be a Rain raid in force," she said. "There are two other Leaf with me, elsewhere in the town. I haven't had a chance to establish communication with them since the attack."

Temari grunted, keeping an eye on her genin as they bound the three prisoners. "Are you able to fight?" she asked. "Although I suppose these three can't have been much if a wimp like you took them down."

Before Sakura could respond to that, one of the genin dealing with the prisoners looked up. "Temari-sama," he said nervously, "you shouldn't -"

"I've told you a dozen times!" the Sand kunoichi said, exasperated. "That story is bullshit! I was there, okay? She didn't do anything!"

Sakura wanted to groan. At the Chuunin Exams a year ago, Rock Lee had made some easily misinterpreted comments that had led the whole Sand delegation into believing she had single-handedly defeated Gaara during the Sand invasion. It had been… useful, once or twice, but it was embarrassing. If Asuma or Yuugao - or gods forbid, Anko - were to find out…

"What story is this?" Sarutobi Asuma asked as he appeared behind the two chuunin kunoichi, a bound, unconscious figure slung over his shoulder.

Sakura groaned. "It's not important, Asuma-sensei."

The jounin smirked, but his voice stayed serious. "I've got the enemy commander here," he said, shrugging his shoulder. "The rest of this lot are dead or gone. Yuugao is scouting the area, but I think we've put a nice scare into them. They aren't likely to stop until they hit the Rain border."

"Oh," Temari said, sounding honestly disappointed. "I guess we missed most of the fun, then."

* * *

><p>The rest of the journey to the Sand Village passed without incident. Temari left the Sand's share of the prisoners with the guards at the Wind Country border and set a hard pace for the remainder of the distance. It wasn't anything that Sakura and Asuma couldn't handle, and a few days later they reached the sheer cliff-face that surrounded the Sand Village. Sakura had seen it in pictures, of course, but it was a much more impressive sight in person.<p>

Temari led the way to the narrow pass cut through the rock into the crater that contained her village, and there they were stopped by a pair of uniformed guards. "Names and business," one of them stated formally.

Temari looked a little irritated, but she answered without apparent anger. "Chuunin Temari of the Desert and her squad, escorting Leaf representatives for the Chuunin Selection Exams."

Now Sakura knew it was her turn to speak, and she stepped forward, giving the guards a slight bow. She silently prayed that she wouldn't forgetting some counter-intuitive Wind Country custom and offend someone. "Chuunin of the Leaf Haruno Sakura, here as the personal representative of the Fifth Hokage. With me is jounin Sarutobi Asuma." Behind her, Asuma grunted.

One of the guards glanced between the two Leaf ninja. "We were told to expect three Leaf ninja," he said, a slight suspicion in his voice.

"The other one had to head back to Fire Country," Temari said bluntly. "Are we done here, Kiro?"

"How are we certain this ninja didn't double back and infiltrate the country?" the guard replied.

Sakura took a deep breath. "Jounin Uzuki Yuugao returned to the Fire Country with prisoners taken from the Rain," she said, trying to keep her voice calm. She did not need to cause a diplomatic incident on her first day in the Sand Village. "Your own chuunin should have sent word ahead of this. Is there a problem?" She felt Asuma shifting behind her, backing her up. It was good to be reminded that she wasn't totally alone here.

"Umm," the other guard began, glancing at his companion. "You shouldn't antagonize our guests, Kiro." His gaze returned to Sakura. "They're our allies and more dangerous than they look."

Sakura schooled her expression, desperately struggling not to show her embarrassment. What the hell kind of stories were the Sand telling about her? This was totally ridiculous.

Kiro snorted, but after a moment he backed away. He didn't show any nervousness as he looked at Sakura, and she wasn't certain whether or not to be thankful. "Our allies, right," he said sarcastically. "We still will be watching. At least those of us who remember Kazekage-sama and haven't been listening to Otokaze's -"

Temari growled, interrupting him. "Neither my father nor Satetsu-sama would approve of such a disgraceful display in front of foreign ninja," she said, her fan suddenly at Kiro's neck and pushing up his chin.

The guard gulped, paling, and took a step back. "My apologies," he said weakly. Kiro then turned to Sakura and Asuma. "In the name of the Council of Elders, we welcome you to the Sand Village." He bowed slightly. "Offer no harm and receive none."

Sakura bowed back, recalling the correct reply from her lessons. "We accept your hospitality." Asuma echoed her an instant later.

The other guard nodded, and the two stepped aside. Her face twisted into an unpleasant expression, she stalked into the pass. "Come on, then," she snapped at Sakura. After a moment, she and Asuma followed, Temari's genin taking up the rear.

"That was a little troubling," Asuma whispered to Sakura as they headed down the long, narrow pass. She wouldn't want to try and fight her way through it, Sakura decided. "Sorry for not taking care of it, but you have to be seen as the leader and me as the muscle."

"I know," Sakura replied quietly. "I hadn't realized there was such strong anti-Leaf sentiment."

Asuma grunted. "Even if it was Orochimaru behind it, the Sand weren't exactly reluctant to fight us."

"I'll send a message to Hokage-sama, once we're alone," Sakura stated.

A few minutes later, they emerged into a walled courtyard, a final line of defense before the village proper. Sakura recalled from her studies that it had only been tested once, at the height of the Great War. Over a hundred Leaf ninja had died to get to where she was now standing. Sakura didn't - couldn't - shudder, but she wanted to, and she almost wished she hadn't done all that extra reading back in the academy.

Waiting for them was an old man in robes. "Temari-san, welcome home," he said with a nod at the Sand chuunin.

She nodded back at him. "Ebizou-sama," she said. "This is Haruno Sakura, the Fifth Hokage's representative, and her escort, Sarutobi Asuma."

The man nodded. "I am Ebizou of the Red Sand, of the Council of Elders. Welcome."

"Thank you," Sakura said. She thought she vaguely recognized the name from the histories. What was he famous for?

That was when the wave of killing intent swept over her. Sakura stiffened instantly, reflexively channeling her own power into a protective bubble around her. Behind her, one of Temari's genin whimpered, feeling the killing intent intensifying as Sakura deflected it from herself. She heard Asuma drawing a weapon, but she couldn't look away from the source of the killing intent.

"Oh shit," Temari breathed.

Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from swallowing nervously as she locked gazes with her attacker. She couldn't look away. She couldn't show fear, or he would pounce like the predator he was. "Gaara of the Desert," she said, struggling and failing to keep her voice from wavering as she stared at the boy standing on the wall above. He hadn't heard those stupid stories about her beating him, had he? This was bad. This was really, really bad, and she was about to die for such a stupid, stupid reason, and then Naruto was probably going to start a war with the Sand and Tsunade would never ever forgive her and…

The killing intent suddenly vanished. One of Temari's genin fell to his knees and retched loudly. Impossibly, Gaara looked away. "I hope there will be no need for unpleasantness, Sakura-san," he said, his voice flat. He was backing down? This was too crazy for words. This was insane. There was no way that Gaara was scared of her in slightest.

"Holy fuck," one of Temari's genin - Tenma - said quietly. "She stared down Gaara."

The Sand elder standing in front of Sakura finally reacted, and she realized that the whole confrontation had taken only a matter of seconds. "What is the meaning of this, Gaara?" the elder asked, sounding only mildly annoyed. If the killing intent had bothered him at all, he didn't show it. Gaara just grunted and turned away, vanishing from the wall. The elder sighed. "I apologize, Haruno-san."

Sakura realized that Asuma still had his knives out. "I… understand, Ebizou-dono," she said, trying to regather her wits. "Gaara-san and I have… met before. There's no need for an apology." Asuma grunted, but kept his own council.

"The Hidden Village of Sand thanks you for your understanding," Ebizou said. He glanced at Temari. "Temari-san, please show our guests to their chambers. They'll be staying in the guest house off the north wing."

Temari nodded. "Understood," she said, her voice flat. She looked back at her team. "You three are dismissed. Get Ryoichi cleaned up and then go train or something. Sakura-san, Asuma-san, follow me."

A while later, the three arrived at the guest house, which proved to be a two-story, well-appointed structure with far more space than needed, and Temari had led them inside. She had ignored Sakura's one attempt at starting a conversation, clearly furious at something or someone. Sakura could only hope it wasn't her.

Then Gaara came down the stairs and walked over as if he wanted to join them. Before Sakura could do or say anything, Asuma interposed himself between her and him, knives at the ready. "Back away, boy," the jounin said flatly.

Gaara stopped. "I wish to apologize, Sarutobi-san. That is all." Asuma didn't move out of the way.

"You want to explain what the hell that was about?" Temari snapped at her brother suddenly. "That's going to give Tenma's crazy stories a whole new round of life."

"That was my intention," Gaara said simply.

Sakura shook her head. She knew the boy was crazy, but not that kind of crazy. "You want to tell me why, or am I too sane to understand?" she asked irritably. A half-instant later she realized it might not have been wise to provoke someone as dangerously unstable as Gaara.

He didn't seem to care, remaining calm. "I have two reasons." Gaara said. "One is of concern to you."

"To Sakura personally or to the Leaf?" Asuma hadn't relaxed a hair. Sakura belatedly moved a hand to hover over the hidden hilt of her special kunai and checked for other potential hostiles. She couldn't sense anyone else.

"Both," Gaara answered Sakura blinked at that. "There are factions in the village opposed to the Leaf alliance."

"And?" Asuma asked.

"Hey, Gaara," Temari interjected, glancing around. "That isn't something we should be -"

"There's a pro-Leaf faction," Sakura said. "Led by someone called Otokaze, it sounded like. And an anti-Leaf faction, led by a Satetsu. We figured that much out at the gate." Asuma sighed.

Temari actually looked a little embarrassed. "It's an internal matter," she insisted. "And under control."

"Someone is considering assassinating you, Sakura-san," Gaara said as though that were a perfectly normal thing to say.

Then again, she was here as the Hokage's representative, not as mostly ordinary chuunin Haruno Sakura. Maybe it was normal. "Oh," was all Sakura said.

"Care to explain how you know that?" Asuma pressed. His voice was calm, but Sakura could imagine he was getting agitated. This simple mission was becoming anything but, and he had to be wishing Yuugao was here to provide more backup.

"Simple," Gaara said. "There were attempts to provoke me into attacking her when you arrived."

Temari started. "Satetsu wouldn't dare!" she exclaimed. "If he's pulling that kind of move, we need to tell Baki-sensei, and Ebizou-sama immediately. This is practically treason!"

"Baki-sensei knows," Gaara said. "We can't tell Ebizou, because I don't know if this was Satetsu's faction."

Sakura blinked. Was there a third faction in this mess, or was there some backwards reason why the pro-Leaf faction would want to kill her? How come she hadn't been briefed on any of this? Did the Leaf not have any spies in Sand at all?

Gaara turned to her. "I apologize for not warning you, but I wanted to move quickly to head off any attempts on your life by making you seem a prohibitively dangerous target."

"I… guess I understand," Sakura said. Should she thank him? This was too strange, and she needed time to think about it.

Asuma finally relaxed slightly, but he didn't put his weapons away. "Temari-san," he said. "You should pass on the warning that any uninvited guests to this house are likely to end up dead."

Temari paled. "Understood, Sarutobi-san."

No one said anything for a moment, and Sakura gave in to her curiosity. "You said you had two reasons for… what you did, Gaara-san," she stated.

Gaara looked at her a moment, as if pondering whether to answer the implied question. "It is… useful," he said after a moment, "for them to think of me as having been beaten. That is why I have never corrected them." Temari shifted, seeming a little uncomfortable.

"But why me?" Sakura asked. "Naruto actually did beat you."

"No one here knows who Naruto is," Gaara said, and Sakura wasn't sure whether he was hinting at Naruto's secret or not. "It is easier to build up a reputation that exists, however mistaken, than to create one that doesn't."

"Unless you have any other news for us," Asuma said. "Sakura and I need to talk in private."

Gaara nodded, and vanished in a swirl of sand. Temari sighed and let herself out in more ordinary fashion.

Sakura formed seals, activating a genjutsu to ensure they couldn't be overheard. "What do we do about this, Asuma-sensei?"

Asuma didn't say anything, his weapons disappearing and being replaced with a cigarette and lighter. He busied himself with that for a moment and took a long drag before answering. "I'm not sure, Sakura-chan. I think you ought to send that message to Hokage-sama now, and if you think your summons can find her, Yuugao also. We're going to need more backup."

* * *

><p>Naruto tried to train as much as he could as he walked along the rough desert road with Jiraiya and the two apprentice sand priests toward civilization and the Sand Village. Of the styles of ninjutsu Jiraiya had taught him or had taught to him, wind element had proved the most frustrating to him. Jiraiya had said he was simply too talented with wind to be skilled with it, which made no sense at all but seemed the best way to put it.<p>

His chakra took on a wind nature too easily, eagerly exploding outward at the slightest prompting. This was great for wildly causing indiscriminate destruction, but that was not useful nearly so often for a ninja as one might imagine. With no control or subtlety - no technique - to Naruto's wind attacks, any enemy dangerous enough to require such strength would be more than capable of protecting himself from it.

So Naruto devoted himself to one of the first techniques Jiraiya had tried to teach him on their journey, days after leaving the Leaf Village for the first time. He had yet to master it, and many months ago Jiraiya had admitted that it would require far more chakra control than Naruto had yet to do so. Jiraiya's Whirlwind Counter, which Naruto had derived his Whirlwind Shield from, could snatch an enemy's projectiles from the air and send them back to their source.

It wasn't actually a wind element technique, using only unaspected chakra. Jiraiya's explanation for the hows and whys of this started out boring and got worse as it went on, but the training method for the technique was a great way to practice control on the move. Naruto supposed he looked a little ridiculous, walking along with all his attention focused on a child's toy, a small pinwheel being jerked back and forth by his chakra. Each time, he tried to use less chakra to move the pinwheel a shorter distance. He wasn't very good at it, but he was far better than he had been a year ago, when he simply couldn't muster the fine control to move the pinwheel at all.

Because of his focus on his practice, he didn't notice the smoke on the horizon until Hiroto pointed it out. "Is that smoke?"

"Yeah," Jiraiya said shortly. "It could be someone making camp."

"In the middle of the day?" Aya asked.

Jiraiya didn't say anything, and Naruto grimaced before putting away his toy. "Want me to check it out?" Naruto asked.

"Can't hurt," Jiraiya said, "but don't get into any trouble."

Naruto was forming seals before his teacher finished the sentence. "Shadow Replication Technique."

The clone raced off toward the smoke, and the four travelers continued on their way. "How's your practice going?" Jiraiya asked after a moment.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm getting better, I guess. But slowly."

"Control's never going to come quickly to you," Jiraiya said. "You had far too much chakra too early."

"You've told me that a thousand times," Naruto complained. "And then you say that the only way to fix it is practice and -" He cut off suddenly.

"What is it, Naruto?" Aya asked.

"My clone just disrupted," Naruto said.

"You can't have reached your range limit yet," Jiraiya said.

Naruto shook his head. "It was on purpose." He concentrated for a moment, sorting through fuzzy images in his head. "The smoke is… a caravan, bandit attack looks like." He winced. "Lots of dead people. And -" He cut off again.

"Naruto?" Jiraiya prompted.

"You won't… I don't believe this," Naruto said. "We need to go there and take a look in person."

Jiraiya didn't argue, changing course immediately. He glanced back at the pair of sand priests. "Stay back if there's any trouble," he ordered. "I don't want to have to explain to Nori how I got you hurt."

"Understood," Aya said softly. Hiroto just grunted, but he didn't complain.

Naruto lead the way, picking up the pace as they went, and several minutes later they reached the ruined caravan. It looked like someone had set off a few explosive tags in the center of it. The wagons were shattered, smoldering ruins, and bodies were scattered all around them.

Jiraiya knelt beside one, flipping it over. "Sand ninja," he said, sounding worried. "Genin maybe."

Naruto ignored him. "Where was it?" he asked himself, and headed around to the other side of the caravan.

"Hiroto, Aya," Jiraiya said, "help me see if anyone's alive."

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto called out. "Get over here, now!"

Naruto was still staring in disbelief at what he had found when Jiraiya made his way over to him. "What is it?" the older ninja asked.

Naruto just pointed, and Jiraiya's face darkened. Pinned to the side of a mostly whole wagon by a kunai was a large scrap of black cloth, perhaps torn from a cloak. On the edge of it, there was the beginning of a pattern just recognizable as a red cloud.

"This doesn't make any sense," Jiraiya muttered. "They've been quiet for a year, why would they start moving again just to raid a random caravan?"

Aya approached the pair of ninja cautiously. "They're all… there's no one we can help," she said. "Hiroto and I want to… have to…"

Jiraiya nodded. "I understand. Naruto, help them get the bodies ready to bury, and help me tear this caravan apart. There's got to be some reason for them to strike here."

"Them?" Aya asked as Naruto summoned a dozen shadow replications.

"It's better for you not to know," Jiraiya said. "Trust me, you don't want them interested in you."

"Oh," was all Aya said to that.

Jiraiya summoned his own shadow replications. "I'm sure they won't have left a trail, but I have to check," he told Naruto.

Several hours later, the dead were laid to rest and Jiraiya had convinced himself there was no sign of what the attackers had been after, nor any obvious trail left behind. "We could summon Pakkun and ask him to search," Naruto stated quietly as they prepared to put some distance between them and the caravan before stopping for the night.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Kakashi-kun only left us a couple of scrolls," he said. "We can't afford waste one frivolously. Even if Pakkun found something, we couldn't risk following it without backup."

"Then what do we do now, Ero-sennin?"

"That's a good question, brat," Jiraiya replied. "I'll let you know as soon as I figure something out."

* * *

><p><strong>Week Three<strong>

Yuugao arrived in the Sand Village three days after Sakura and Asuma, which was something of a relief to the pink-haired chuunin. Asuma hadn't let Sakura out of his sight, and outside of a couple of brief, largely pointless meetings with the Sand's examiners to discuss the exams, he hadn't let her leave the guest house assigned to them. Sakura understood, of course, but it had been a little stifling. With Yuugao there for backup and with three peaceful days behind him, Asuma relaxed a little. Perhaps, Sakura began to hope, Gaara's gambit had scared off whoever was after her.

When Temari had come by the guest house to let them know that the foreign teams were expected to being arriving today and offer to take Sakura to the gates to watch for them, she had leapt at the chance even though the Leaf teams were still several days out. After a quick round of rock-paper-scissors, Yuugao had been picked to be Sakura's bodyguard, and the three kunoichi headed for the gates.

Now Sakura was leaning against the wall of the inner courtyard, idly practicing fire manipulation with one hand as she watched Ebizou give an introductory speech to the Grass teams, the first batch to arrive. By Sakura's count there were seven teams from that village this time, unusually high given that the Grass had hosted the exams six months ago.

Temari was watching the small sparks of flame shooting from Sakura's fingertips. "You might make someone nervous with that," she said dryly, "since you're such a powerful kunoichi."

Sakura tried not to let her irritation show. She knew Temari was pissed about being forced to play along with Gaara's charade, but she hadn't asked for this stupid reputation. There was no need to keep needling her about it. She held the last spark for a moment, coaxing it into a small flame, making her finger look like a bizarre candle. "As you say," she said after a moment, and let the fire die. She wasn't going to let the Sand girl get a rise out of her. Not in public, at least.

"Hmph," Temari said. "Maybe we ought to spar sometime."

"Maybe," was all Sakura could say to that. It would be interesting, and she had no intention of letting herself get rusty even if she was going to be stuck on this diplomatic mission for a couple months.

Ebizou finished and the Grass ninja began to head out of the courtyard. "Waterfall are next," Temari told Sakura and Yuugao, "and then the special invites."

Sakura nodded. There were an unusual number of teams from non-allied villages this time around, she'd gathered from Tsunade's complaining. Since the Sand were hosting, it was their choice who the invites went to, and Tsunade had needed to fight a little to get some sent where she wanted.

The Waterfall weighed in at five teams, and not for the first time Sakura considered how much an expression of trust the Chuunin Exam system was. There were already over thirty genin and twelve jounin attending the exams, a sizable force, and that was just two of the smaller villages. It might only take a few more incidents to cause the exam system to collapse.

The Waterfall genin milled about while their jounin teachers were handing in registration forms to Ebizou, and Sakura thought she recognized one genin, a tall kunoichi with brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She pointed her team out to Yuugao. "Weren't they at the exams a year ago?"

The jounin studied them for a moment, then nodded. "I think so, two of them anyway. The third of that team passed."

Sakura nodded and studied the team for a moment. She thought recognized the boy on the team, although the third member - a younger girl, maybe ten or eleven years old, with light green hair - was new to her. The girl Sakura remembered - Maya, that was her name - noticed the attention and waved at Sakura, tapping her male companion on the shoulder and gesturing at her.

Before anything else could happen, the jounin finished and Ebizou began the next iteration of his welcoming speech. Sakura sighed and leaned back against the wall. This could get boring, fast, although she supposed it beat moping about the guest house waiting for someone to attack.

Temari stifled a laugh. "The next batch should be more interesting, at least."

In time, the Waterfall left, but no one came to replace them for a while. Temari pushed away from the wall, walking over to Ebizou, and after a moment Sakura followed. Yuugao stayed against the wall. "What's the holdup?" Temari asked the elder.

Ebizou glanced at the pair of kunoichi. "Waiting for more security," he said. Sakura realized that the tops of the walls were slowly filling with more Sand ninja.

"You don't expect something?" Sakura asked.

"Of course not," Ebizou said, "but it never hurts to make a show of strength." He looked Sakura up and down. "You might stick with me, if you want," he said. "Might remind some of these that the Leaf are our allies."

Sakura nodded, feeling a little self-conscious in her Leaf chuunin uniform as she took a position behind Ebizou. Did his comment mean he was part of the pro-Leaf faction after all? Temari decided to flank Ebizou's other side, and a few minutes later the ninja from the non-allied villages trooped into the courtyard.

In the lead were two teams from the newly founded Hidden Music, although they had only one jounin between them. Their forehead protectors bore two notes, instead of the single note that represented the Sound. There was another familiar face on one of the teams, Fuuma Sasame, a kunoichi who Sakura had met several times from one of the first clans to rebel against Orochimaru.

Sakura didn't recognize the forehead protectors, bearing a few small circles, on the team that followed them, but she recognized the man who seemed to be their jounin and one of the three genin. Kitakami Ichizo and Rui, a pair of sibling ninja from the Snow Country who Naruto had met on his journey. Sakura had met them in Rice Field Country, and Rui had brought her brother to the Leaf Village so Tsunade could heal a crippling injury Ichizo had suffered. The Hokage had pushed to get an invite extended to clans working to restore the Snow Village there, hoping to gain an ally on the Rock's northern border.

The next team was an unpleasant surprise, from the moment she took in the uniform the jounin kunoichi in the lead was wearing. "The Rock?" she breathed quietly. She could feel Yuugao straightening to attention behind her.

"Later," Temari mouthed at Sakura, and after a moment the pink-haired girl nodded, trying not to let her discomfort show as she studied the Rock team. It took her a moment to recognize them as a team she'd met in Rice Field Country. She couldn't recall the names, but they had been the Tsuchikage's students, and Naruto had trained with them in Earth Country for a while.

The Music jounin, a woman with long dark hair, approached Ebizou first and bowed, holding out a stack of paperwork. "Fuuma Kotohime, of the Music, submitting two teams for the Chuunin Selection Exams."

Ebizou accepted the papers and flipped through them. "It looks to be in order," he said, and Kotohime backed away, to be replaced by the jounin from Snow Country.

"Kitakami Ichizo, representing the Kitakami, Kakyuyoku, and Rouga Clans of the Snow Country," he said, handing over the papers for his team. He smiled and nodded to Sakura, who nodded back.

Then it was the Rock's turn, and Sakura studied the approaching woman carefully. She had short-cut dark hair, and seemed completely at ease surrounded by potential enemies. She almost tossed her papers at Ebizou, thrusting them into his hands. "Kazu Kurotsuchi, Rock," she said bluntly. She glanced at Sakura. "Who's the Leaf? Thought we were beating them here."

"She's the Hokage's representative," Ebizou answered her.

After a moment of expectant silence, Sakura bowed slightly. "Haruno Sakura," she introduced herself.

Kurotsuchi grinned. "Pleased to meet you," she said irreverently, "although I suspect you ain't as pleased to meet me."

Sakura didn't think there was anything useful she could say to that, so she kept quiet as Ebizou carefully examined the papers, glancing at the three Rock genin as he studied them. "It looks to be in order," he said, and then he launched into a third variation on his welcoming speech, although this one was a bit heavier on the warnings about acting irresponsibly while guests of a Hidden Village.

As no more arrivals were expected today, Temari led the two Leaf away a short while later. "So, the Rock," Sakura prompted as they neared the guest house.

Temari grimaced. "Satetsu's faction favors an alliance with the Earth Country," she admitted. "They managed to convince the council to offer the Rock an invite. We're sending a team to the Rock's next exams in a few months also."

"Why wasn't Hokage-sama told?" Yuugao asked quietly.

"Why do you think?" Temari asked back. "If that faction gets control, they aren't planning on us being allied to both the Rock and the Leaf at the same time."

* * *

><p>"Hmm," the red-and-black cloaked figure said happily, "a little bird told me interesting people were looking into my handiwork, and it was right!" The man lifted his bamboo hat off of his face, revealing a head of blond hair tied into a ponytail and a marred Rock forehead protector. "Not who I was targeting, but interesting still!" He let the hat drop.<p>

Jiraiya stared up the sand dune at the man. "I believe we've met before, but I didn't catch your name at the time." There was a puff of smoke and a shadow replication appeared next to him, grabbing Aya and Hiroto.

"Hey!" the male nomad shouted in protest, but the clone ignored him. A sudden gust of wind blew sand in a swirl around them, and when it settled all three were gone, leaving only the real Jiraiya and Naruto facing their opponent.

"I suppose I can introduce myself, hmm?" The man smiled. "I am Deidara." He bowed. "Please enjoy my art," he said, and then the ground underneath the two Leaf ninja exploded. The cloud of dust and smoke obscured the roadway.

Jiraiya reappeared behind the man, chakra dancing in one hand. "Rasengan!"

"Too slow!" Deidara said, jumping away. He extended one arm, revealing a mouth on the palm of his hand, happily chewing away at something.

"Fuuton: Gale Palm!" Naruto was below the man, a massive windstorm erupting up at his target.

Deidara seemed to be cut to shreds, but neither Leaf ninja was particularly surprised when the pieces turned into white clay. Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he watched the clay - apparently shaped into small insects - slowly drift down toward him. "Naruto!" he snapped. "Underground, now!"

The boy didn't ask questions, melting into the ground, and Jiraiya followed. Moments later, the clay spiders touched down, carpeting the road and the adjacent sand dunes. Then they detonated, covering the battlefield in a sea of explosions. As they died down, the Akatsuki member reappeared down on the roadway, kneeling with both hands against the ground. "Doton: Sanctuary Breaking Technique," he declared, and the earth rumbled.

"Katon: Phoenix Flame Technique!" A storm of small fireballs converged on Deidara, and Jiraiya emerged from the sand dune he'd buried himself in.

The missing ninja kept his hands pressed against the ground, and a wall of rock shoved its way up out of the road, blocking the flames. He leapt atop the wall, landing in a crouch. "You're still too slow, hmm," he observed.

Jiraiya smiled, forming a seal. "You're too young." Deidara looked down, and saw the row of kunai that had been thrown behind the flames, embedded in his wall. An instant later, the explosive tags wrapped around the hilts detonated.

Deidara managed to jump away and down the road, but he landed roughly. Then he was flipping backwards, moments ahead of a line of more explosive kunai. "Hmm," he observed as he stared up at his attacker. "I'd almost forgotten about you."

"You won't for long," Naruto promised, and then his shadow replications erupted from the ground around the missing ninja.

One kicked him up into the air, shouting "U-"

Another was ready, a second kick driving Deidara higher "-zu-"

Another, "-ma-"

"-ki!"

As the fourth clone connected, the final Naruto jumped from his perch on a sand dune, appearing over Deidara. "Naruto Combo!" he finished, slamming his foot into the Akatsuki member.

Deidara grinned as Naruto's leg sank into him. "Boom!" A massive explosion consumed him and all five Naruto.

The real one emerged from the ground below, staring up at his handiwork. "Not bad, hmm," he observed, but his face fell when he saw that nothing was left behind. "All clones? How pedestrian." He caught the kunai Jiraiya threw at him, then his eyes widened as he saw the wire attached to it.

Jiraiya teeth clamped down on the other end of the wire. "Katon: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Deidara dropped the kunai, darting backward. Two stone hands emerged from the ground, clasping tightly around the Akatsuki member. "Doton: Grasping Hand Technique," Naruto said from where he kneeled further down the road.

The hands shattered in an explosion, and Deidara fell to the ground. "Forced to injure myself with my own technique," he said sadly. "I'm getting sloppy, hmm." He fell to one knee, gasping.

Jiraiya stepped forward. "Maybe you should have thought twice before taking us on."

"This fight is already won, hmm," Deidara replied.

"What do you mean?" Naruto demanded.

"I merged some of my explosive clay with the sand before we started, hmm." Deidara gestured at the dunes. "You've both been swimming in it." He smiled. "But it would have been much too dull to end it without having some fun first, hmm."

"Damn it!" Jiraiya began to form seals, but Deidara didn't let him finish.

The Rock missing ninja formed a single seal of his own, and both of his opponents were battered by numerous small detonations. Jiraiya fell, still conscious but hurt, and Deidara stood, turning to look at Naruto. "Itachi-san and Kisame-san will have to find a new target, hmm," he observed.

On one knee, Naruto grunted. "It isn't over yet," he growled. Crimson chakra sparked briefly around him.

"I think it is, hmm," Deidara observed. Small spiders of white clay emerged from the earth before Naruto, scuttling toward him. "Please don't die; it would be inconvenient," the older blond finished.

The ground in front of Naruto exploded, and the spiders detonated in a chain reaction before reaching their target. Deidara's eyes widened, and he jumped away instants ahead of another explosion. He landed atop a dune.

A man in a Sand uniform, with spiky brown hair, appeared in a crouch beside Naruto, helping him to his feet. Wordlessly, the Sand ninja thrust out his hand toward Deidara, and the Rock missing ninja leapt away again. The top of the dune he'd been standing on exploded.

"I didn't know anyone in this country knew those kind of techniques, hmm," Deidara said as he landed on another dune.

"You're the one I am hunting, I believe," the new arrival said, breathing heavily.

"You aren't the one I was hoping for either, hmm," Deidara said.

"Be sure to complain to our interrogation squad," the man replied. Not far away, Jiraiya had recovered and was standing.

Deidara smiled. "I don't think I'll be staying much longer, hmm," he said. "This is too much work for someone who isn't even my target." He knelt down, picking up his bamboo hat and replacing it on his head. "But first, your name?"

"Otokaze of the Explosion," the Sand ninja said grimly, forming seals.

"I'll remember the name," Deidara promised. "You have artistic potential, hmm." A massive explosion engulfed him, but to no one's surprise when it died down there was no sign of the man.

Otokaze staggered. "Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked, supporting the man.

The Sand ninja nodded. "It takes a bit out of me to do that at range," he admitted as he accepted Naruto's assistance.

Jiraiya approached after summoning a shadow replication to scout the area and ensure their attacker was gone. "Your assistance was well-timed."

"You're the ones who buried the dead at the last attack site?" Otokaze asked. When Jiraiya smiled, he nodded. "I thought as much." He paused. "You're Jiraiya the Toad Hermit."

"Always nice to be recognized," Jiraiya said.

Otokaze glanced to his side. "Which would make you his apprentice?" He didn't wait for Naruto to answer. "There's been a number of attacks in this area," he explained, "by a ninja who seemed too powerful to be wasting his or her time with such petty targets. I decided to hunt down this mystery. Do you know what he's after, Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya didn't glance at Naruto. "No," he said simply, "but you'd be best off dropping it. This isn't something that's safe to be involved with."

"Heh," Otokaze said. "I didn't make my name by playing it safe."

Jiraiya studied the man. "I suppose not. 'Of The Explosion' isn't a clan name I'd heard before."

"You wouldn't have, Jiraiya-sama," Otokaze said, "since it isn't one." He smiled. "As I'm sure you've guessed, that's the title I've earned with my original techniques."

Jiraiya's first shadow replication reappeared, bearing the two sand priests. He set them down and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Is everyone okay?" Aya asked as she raced up to Naruto. Hiroto followed her, looking around in awe at the devastation wrought by the battle.

Naruto forced a smile onto his face. "We're fine," he said. "Just a little fight."

Otokaze pushed himself away from Naruto, standing straight again. "I don't suppose you four are headed to the Exams, Jiraiya-sama?" he guessed.

Jiraiya nodded. "That's right," he said. "The brat I'm teaching is Naruto," he said, and then he nodded at the two nomads. "Aya and Hiroto, of the Howling Moon," he introduced them. "I'm taking them to see the exams as a favor to a friend."

Otokaze bowed deeply. "Then please allow me the honor of escorting you the rest of the way, Jiraiya-sama," he offered. Then he smiled. "I have to head back anyway. There's no telling what kind of mischief the council will have been up to while I'm not there to ride herd on them."

* * *

><p>Sakura was not really a diplomat or a politician, despite slightly more than a year of exposure to the daily work of the Hokage. She was not comfortable in the role, even in the empty formalities she had expected this mission to consist of. To face down the ruling council of the Sand and make clear the anger of the Hokage and the Fire Country was far outside her element. Yet so blatant a provocation as the unannounced invitation to the Rock could not go unanswered, and to let Asuma or Yuugao deliver the message would undermine Sakura's role as Tsunade's personal representative.<p>

Therefore, despite her misgivings, it was Sakura who stood before the Sand's Council of Elders. Asuma - who apparently been in her position years ago - had coached her thoroughly, and both he and Yuugao stood at her back, silently providing support. Even Temari had wished her luck, surprisingly enough, though the Sand kunoichi had faded back to the rear wall as soon as they'd entered the council chambers.

Sakura wanted to throw up, but she didn't let herself show it as she stepped forward to speak. "In the name of the Hokage," she said formally, "I would speak with this council."

Despite the name, the Council of Elders did not only consist of elderly ninja like Ebizou of the Red Sand. Sakura recognized Baki, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara's teacher, seated at the far end of the round table where the council met, opposite a single empty seat. He gestured at it. "In the name of the Hidden Village of Sand," he said, "welcome. Please, join us."

"Thank you," Sakura said, and she took the seat. She nodded in recognition to Ebizou, who was seated a couple seats down on her left. That was the only other familiar face at the table. The elderly woman seated on Ebizou's own left caught Sakura's eyes in a glare, but an instant later a man on the right side of the table spoke.

"How appropriate," he said, voice dripping with disdain, "that Otokaze's seat would be taken by a Leaf ninja. We shall hardly notice a difference." Sakura studied that man, certain that this must be Satetsu. He was younger than she expected, possibly only a few years older than Kakashi, with a shaven head and a short, brown beard. It was hard to tell under the formal robes he wore, but he had the look of a large, powerful man.

Seated next to Baki, another young, bearded man leaned forward, although long, black bangs peaked out from under his headdress to cover one eye. "Shall we ask the Rock jounin to join us and take your seat, then, and dispense with all pretense, Satetsu?" he asked, confirming Sakura's guess.

The old woman who had glared at Sakura cackled suddenly. "Keep talking like that, Yuura-kun, and I'll expect your vote next time." Sakura could feel the undercurrents of years of internal politics and wished she had a cheat sheet.

Baki laid one hand gently on the table, but the light tap echoed like he had slapped it. "We are before a guest," he chided, "and the memory of our ancestors. Do not disgrace either with such petty bickering." Everyone glanced at the stone statues of the dead Kazekages that loomed over the table.

"Fine," Satetsu said. "Let's get this over with. I think Chiyo-dono and I can both agree on that. Speak, ninja of the Leaf."

Sakura didn't let herself swallow nervously. "The Hokage wishes to inform this council," she said simply, "of our intention to increase the number of teams attending the Chuunin Selection Exams." That would take some doing to arrange, but Tsunade had promised it would happen in the message she'd sent back with Sakura's snake. "We will be sending an additional eight teams, which will arrive a week after the first ten." That would get them here only a day or so before the first exam was to start.

"Eighteen teams?" one of the councilors asked, her voice strangled. "That's not an exam delegation, that's an invasion force!"

There was an awkward silence, and Sakura let herself smile grimly. "We apologize for the late notice," Sakura added, "but the exam compact does allow for the delegation's size to be altered if circumstances change." Just like the compact allowed the Sand to invite the Rock without informing the Leaf, she didn't bother to add.

"That slug woman is as infuriating as ever," the old crone next to Ebizou - Chiyo? - commented. "Where the hell does she expect to find those eight teams, hmm?" she asked Sakura.

Did this woman really think Sakura would answer that, even if she knew? "That is not your concern," Sakura said firmly.

Satetsu shifted in his seat. "You are within your rights," he said, sounding bored. Sakura wondered if maybe this had been his plan all along, to force Tsunade to escalate.

"This council thanks you for passing on this message," Baki said. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"

Sakura shook her head, but before she could stand Yuura leaned forward, folding his hands in front of his face. "I would like to raise another topic," he said, "while we have the Hokage's ear."

Baki glanced at Sakura, and when she nodded he said, "Speak, then."

"The criminal organization known as Akatsuki," Yuura stated simply.

Sakura couldn't stop herself from stiffening, and she heard Asuma grunt behind her. There wasn't much Sakura knew about that organization other than what Naruto had told her, but that was bad enough. Sasuke's brother, the one who had murdered their entire clan, was among its members, and Naruto was among their targets. "You'll… you'll have to be more specific," Sakura said weakly.

"This council knows that Otokaze and I have been investigating this group for some time now," Yuura explained. "We have reason to believe that the Leaf are also following their movements."

He waited for a moment. "I couldn't say," Sakura said truthfully. She certainly hoped Tsunade had someone keeping tabs on them, but Sakura wasn't privy to that information.

"I understand," Yuura said. "But, with the permission of this council, I would like to make a request to the Hokage for our villages to share information on this common threat." No one objected, although Satetsu leaned back in his seat, looking at Chiyo as though waiting for the woman to make the first move.

"I… I am not authorized to negotiate such an issue," Sakura said after a moment. "I will pass your request on to Hokage-sama."

"Thank you," Yuura murmured.

"Anything else?" Baki asked, then waited a moment. When no one spoke, he inclined his head at Sakura. "This council thanks you for your presence."

Recognizing the dismissal, Sakura stood and bowed respectfully. "The Hokage and the Hidden Leaf thank you for hearing me," she said, and then she backed away from the table. She bowed once more and turned away, heading for the exit, Asuma and Yuugao behind her. Temari fell in a few moments later.

"Not bad, Sakura-chan," Asuma commented once they had left the Kazekage's palace.

Sakura was about to respond when she noticed a Sand ninja - was that Kankuro? - leading Kurotsuchi into the building they'd just left through another entrance. The Rock jounin noticed her back, flashing Sakura a menacing smile before disappearing into the building.

Yuugao snorted. "I wouldn't mind finding out what that conversation will be about. Maybe…" She trailed off.

Temari shifted uncomfortably. "I'd have to report it if any of you… you know," she warned.

Asuma laughed. "We're not so foolish," he said.

"I don't know," Yuugao said thoughtfully. "Sakura-taichou was Anko-san's student for a while. Who knows how much she rubbed off?" Asuma laughed again, while Temari looked confused.

Sakura just groaned.

* * *

><p>On the day that the original ten Leaf teams were to arrive in the Sand Village, Sakura woke early. The chill of the desert winter night had not yet lifted, and Sakura gratefully accepted the mug of tea Yuugao offered her when she came downstairs to the kitchen. "Anything happen during your watch?" Sakura asked. Despite Sakura's offers to take a watch herself, the two jounin insisted that wasn't her job on this mission.<p>

The purple-haired woman shook her head. "Breakfast came by early like we asked," she said, gesturing at the platter on the kitchen table.

Sakura seated herself opposite Yuugao and took a few pieces of flatbread. She ignored the dip it came with, which she hadn't managed to develop a taste for. It wouldn't go to waste, since Asuma would devour it all anyway once he woke up. She ate in silence for a few minutes, gathering her thoughts for the day ahead.

She was shaken from her reverie as Asuma stomped down the stairs. "Good morning," he said as he accepted his own tea from Yuugao. "Looking forward to seeing your team again?" he asked her.

Yuugao smiled slightly. "Who doesn't look forward to being responsible for teenagers?" she asked. Asuma chuckled.

"Should I be offended?" Sakura asked, finishing the last of her breakfast.

Yuugao waved a hand vaguely. "You're going to have to be responsible for all of them," she said lightly. "That'll add ten years to your age before next week."

"I'll feel a lot better this evening," Asuma observed. "We'll have nine more jounin to work with if anything should happen."

Sakura bit at her lip. "I want to say that if this Satetsu hasn't tried anything by now, he won't," she said. "It would have been easiest to strike when we first arrived."

"Probably," Yuugao said, "but we can't count on it. He might be planning to wait for us to drop our guard."

Asuma sighed. "Or there's some entirely different factor driving his schedule that we have no way of knowing," he said. "This is politics, not a normal mission."

"So, what? We have to look underneath underneath the underneath?" Sakura asked with a groan. "Or underneath that?"

Asuma shrugged. "Or so far underneath you're back on top again," he said. "Politics." The last sounded like a curse.

There was a light tapping on the front door in a familiar pattern. Yuugao glanced out the window. "Unlocked," she said loudly after a moment.

Temari let herself in. "Morning," she said grumpily.

"Tea?" Yuugao offered.

The Sand kunoichi shook her head. "Our scouts have spotted your teams," she said. "Less than an hour out."

Sakura stood. "Then I guess I should be going to meet them."

Yuugao followed suit, then yawned. "I guess I should volunteer for escort this time," she said.

"Have fun," Asuma said cheerfully.

Yuugao and Sakura followed Temari out of the guest house and down the winding streets toward the gates. The streets were just beginning to be clogged with civilian morning traffic. Sakura idly wondered how much faster progress they would make on the rooftops, but in a foreign hidden village it was probably best to stay on the ground. As they passed the dormitories where the teams taking the exam were housed, a voice called out Sakura's name.

The three kunoichi stopped, and Sakura looked around for a moment before finding the source. "Ah… Yuhara Maya-san, wasn't it?" Sakura asked as the Waterfall kunoichi walked up, followed by her teammates. "And Chiba… Ichi-san?" No, that wasn't right.

The black-haired boy smiled. "Not quite," he said, not seeming bothered. "Chiba Ikkei."

"Sorry," Sakura apologized. "Is Arata-san here?" she asked, naming the third member of their team from a year ago. She remembered his name well, if only because Ino still insisted that he'd had an incredibly obvious crush on Sakura.

Maya shook her head. "He's out east," she said vaguely.

"Oh," Sakura said, taking her meaning easily enough. Realizing she was being a little rude, she introduced Yuugao and Temari before turning her attention to the green-haired girl who stood quietly behind the two other Waterfall ninja, staring at the ground. "Who's your new teammate?" She had to be something special if she was taking the Chuunin Exam at what looked like ten years old.

"Ah… this is Fuu," Maya said, sounding nervous.

The young girl looked up at her name, and Sakura did her best not to show her surprise at the bright orange eyes the motion revealed. A doujutsu bloodline? The girl seemed surprised herself, as though she had not expected to be included in the conversation. "Is there someone I'm supposed to kill, Yuhara-sama?" she asked cheerfully.

"No!" Maya shouted hastily.

"These are all friends and allies," Ikkei elaborated. "We aren't going to kill them." Sakura heard shifting behind her, and realized Yuugao had been ready to take action.

"Then what should I do?" Fuu asked.

Maya licked her lips nervously. "Say hello to Sakura-san," she said.

The girl turned to Sakura and bowed deeply. "Hello, Sakura-san."

Sakura wasn't really certain what to do, and wound up just responding, "Hello, Fuu-san."

At this exchange Fuu seemed to lose interest, returning her gaze to the ground. Maya laughed awkwardly. "Ah… we shouldn't keep you any longer, Sakura-san" she said.

Sakura decided to let Fuu's strangeness go for now. "All right," she said.

Temari grunted. "Good, if we take much longer we'll be late."

Sakura turned away from the Waterfall ninja and noted the disturbed look on Yuugao's face, but this was neither the time nor place to discuss matters. The jounin apparently agreed, as they traveled the rest of the way to the gate courtyard without conversation. The Leaf teams must have made good speed over the last few miles of their journey, as they started filing into the courtyard only minutes after Sakura and her companions arrived.

Sakura used a minor ninjutsu to make her voice carry. "Please line up by team! Jounin, please have your team's papers ready!"  
>Having had the chance to observe the other village's teams arriving the week before, she wanted to make this as efficient as possible.<p>

"I'll go find my kids," Yuugao said, and Sakura only nodded in response as she headed to the first team to ready itself. Sakura didn't know any of them, although like most of the teams they looked vaguely familiar from seeing them about the Hokage's offices. She introduced herself and double-checked that the paperwork was in order before sending them off to the waiting Ebizou.

The first team Sakura knew more personally was Suzume Namida's team, which had made it to the finals in the exams Sakura had passed. She knew the two girls on the team - Uzuki Ami and Mitokado Fuki - from before that, as both had been bullies back in her first years in the academy. In the little she'd interacted with them since graduating, Fuki had seemed more mature and hadn't been a pain to deal with.

"Oh, it's you, forehead girl." Ami was another story.

Sakura glanced at the jounin instructor, who gave her a slight shrug. It probably would be better for her to establish some authority herself. "Uzuki-san," she said calmly, idly wondering what precisely the girl's relation to Yuugao was. "By showing public disrespect to me, you are disgracing Hokage-sama in front of foreign ninja. Do it again and your pay for the exam period will be docked ten percent. Make a note of that please, Suzume-san."

"Understood, sir," Namida said. It was weird having someone who'd instructed her back in the academy saying that.

"You… you can't do that!" Ami protested. Her male teammate, Inuzuka Shinta, buried his tattooed face in his hands.

"Haruno-san is the Hokage's personal representative, and in charge of our delegation here," Namida lectured.

"Take care of this please, Namida-san," Sakura told her. "I have more teams to see to."

"Yes, sir."

Although Yuugao's team contained another of Ami's old cronies from academy days - Toriichi Kasumi - she didn't cause any trouble. None of the other teams had anyone Sakura recognized until she reached the final team.

"Sakura!" Chouji said in greeting.

Sakura smiled. "Chouji, Hinata-san, Kurenai-sensei, good morning." She hesitated, then said, "Shouldn't you have a third team member?"

"Hokage-sama said we would meet our third here," Hinata said quietly.

"That's… unusual," Sakura said, glancing at Kurenai. The jounin just smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

That was when a very familiar voice called out, "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura whirled about, speechless as she watched the boy run toward her. "N-naruto-kun," Hinata stammered, but Sakura had no ears for the other girl at the moment.

Naruto skidded to a halt in front of Sakura. The two of them stared at each other for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" they said in unison.

Slowly walking up behind Naruto, Jiraiya chuckled. "Totally worth the hassle of making sure neither of you knew," he said cheerfully. "Tsunade says happy early birthday, by the way, Sakura-chan." Sakura's mouth moved for a moment, but no words came out. Jiraiya laughed again. "I'll tell her you said thank you."

Sakura shook her head to clear it, noticing the three people she didn't know who had arrived with Naruto and Jiraiya, a ninja in a Sand's jounin uniform and two young people in nomad clothing. "Who are your friends?" she asked.

"Oh, this is -" Naruto was interrupted as Kurenai coughed.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura asked the jounin.

The woman held up three papers. "I need to submit my team for the exams," she said. Hinata suddenly turned bright red.

Naruto's eyes widened, glancing between Chouji and Hinata, and then back to Kurenai. "You mean," he began disbelievingly.

"From Team Eight that I lead: Hyuuga Hinata," Kurenai stated formally. "From Team Four that Funeno Daikoku leads, with his permission: Akimichi Chouji. From Jiraiya-sama's special command, with his permission: Uzumaki Naruto. I renominate those three for the Chuunin Selection Exam under my name, Yuuhi Kurenai."

"Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked. The Sannin nodded once, and Naruto let out a whoop of joy. "All right!"

Sakura realized that everyone was looking at her. "In the Hokage's name, I accept the nomination," Jiraiya stage-whispered.

After a moment, Sakura repeated after him.

"Then it's official," Kurenai said.

"Glad to have you on the team," Chouji said with a smile.

"Let's… let's do our best, Naruto-kun," Hinata offered.

"Of course!" Naruto declared loudly. "No one's going to beat us!"

Jiraiya laughed. "I certainly hope not, after I've been training you," he said. "Embarrass me and I'll make sure you don't get any ramen for a year."

Naruto's reaction to that threat was predictable.

* * *

><p>Author's Random Ramblings<p>

1) And there's the first chapter! It's a bit shorter than the average chapter of One Hundred Days turned out, I believe, but then again it only covers three of one hundred weeks instead of seven of one hundred days.

2) I took advantage of declaring myself an AU to make Fuu younger than she appears to be in canon. Why? Partly, because I could and the idea appealed to me, and partly to distance my version from any revelations about her (or possibly even him, from my understanding) that might show up in canon in the near future.

3) Thanks to everyone on The Fanfiction Forum who commented on the partial drafts of this chapter.

4) Next time, in One Hundred Weeks, Chapter Two: The Games Begin, Naruto's team faces the challenges of the first two exams, and Sakura gets mired deeper in the politics of the Sand Village…

Draft Started: April 20, 2011  
>Draft Finished: May 11, 2011<br>Draft Released: May 12, 2011  
>Final Released: May 15, 2011<p> 


	3. Chapter 2: The Games Begin

One Hundred Weeks  
>A Naruto Fanfic<br>By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter 2: The Games Begin

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: Contrary to its status in several improbable alternate universes, Naruto does not belong to me. It belongs to Kishimoto Masashi; I'm just borrowing it without permission. However, the blame for the actual text of this fanfiction is mine. Also, avocados.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Week Four<strong>

The full moon hung low and bloated over the Sand Village. The bright moonlight reflected off of the still surface of the pair of extravagant ornamental ponds near the well-guarded entrance to the Sand's underground reservoir, leaving the area as brightly lit as though the noonday sun was in the sky. A chill winter wind blew thin, high clouds across the sky, visible only when they passed in front of the moon, momentarily darkening the area.

In one such moment, Otokaze of the Explosion, despite his young age a member of the Sand's Council of Elders, and at least in his own mind the leading candidate for the vacant position of Kazekage, slipped past the guards and into the reservoir cavern. He had all the necessary privileges and clearances to gain access legitimately, of course. The meeting he meant to attend, however, was not one meant for lower-ranking ninja to know and speculate about.

A more sensible, less secure location might have been chosen, but if any of the three attending were unable to make their way there without attracting attention, that would merely prove their unworthiness to attend. Otokaze made his way around the walkway about the reservoir to his destination, a point where a set of sandstone stairs led down to a wooden jetty.

Satetsu of the Bleeding Crow was already there, staring out over the precious water. "Otokaze," he said, none of the anger or distaste either man's followers might have expected present in the hulking man's greeting. Here, in private, there was no need for such theatrics.

"Satetsu," Otokaze returned as he walked to stand beside his rival. "Good evening."

"Evening," Satetsu said with a grunt. The two men waited in companionable silence for a few moments, and then Satetsu continued, "Kanon asked me to invite you to the celebration she's planning for Matsuri's promotion after the exams."

Otokaze laughed. "What a scandal that would be," he said, "but I learned not to disobey her when we were genin," he said. "I guess we'll have to ensure this is settled before then."

"This has gone on quite long enough," Satetsu agreed. "I don't suppose you'd be inclined to back down and support me?"

"Why shouldn't you back down instead?" Otokaze asked lightly, but the next silence to pass between the men was less comfortable.

Both men turned in unison as a small figure appeared perched on the railing of the walkway overhead, then leapt down to join them with a smoothness that belied her ancient appearance. Chiyo of the Red Sand cackled briefly as she studied her two rivals. "Clearly," she said, "I am the compromise candidate you should both agree on."

"We're on the verge of a new Great War," Satetsu said seriously.

"If not already into it," Otokaze agreed. "The Sand Village cannot stand against this storm alone. We need to stand with our allies."

"We need to be on the winning side," Satetsu countered. "The Leaf are withering away. Their days are numbered."

"Do you wish to hand Orochimaru that victory?" Otokaze said, the anger that had been absent from their conversation to this point appearing as it went down familiar paths. "After what he did?"

"No!" Satetsu said fiercely. "But we cannot bleed ourselves dry fighting the Leaf's wars for no gain. The Rock are also Orochimaru's foe -"

"And will be happy to turn us into their puppet," Chiyo interrupted. "If I knew that the next generations would only argue over whether we should be ruled from the east or the north, I would not have fought so hard to save this village."

"The Rock will crush the Leaf between them and the Mist," Satetsu said. "It is inevitable. If we strike in unison with them, we can seize the River Country. We can reinstall a friendly regime in the Rain Village. We can secure a peace for this generation."

"And be crushed by the Rock in the next," Otokaze said. "We've been down this route before. I assume you didn't call this meeting to rehash old debates."

Satetsu sighed. "This impasse has gone on long enough. We've all cooperated to keep word of our internal matters from leaking to the other villages, but we can't hope for it to escape notice any more. We should have settled this before the exams."

Chiyo let out a bark of laughter. "And how were we to do that, when Otokaze-kun went chasing after that fantasy of Yuura-kun's?"

"Not a fantasy," Otokaze said grimly. "I met a member of this Akatsuki."

"So be it," Satetsu said, "but you were still needed here. We should have sent Gaara instead like Yuura suggested, gotten him out of the village. It might have prevented some embarrassments." He glared at Chiyo for a moment. "How many birds did you and Ebizou plan to kill with that stone, hmm?"

Chiyo just laughed.

"You would have cast suspicion on me," Satetsu said, "wrecked relations with the Leaf beyond anything Otokaze could hope to repair, killed Tsunade's apprentice, and given yourself the excuse you've been looking for to perform the extraction." He bowed deeply and mockingly. "A master stroke, and the false trails were elegantly laid - I was almost forced to conclude that I was behind the attempt when I investigated."

Chiyo's mouth twitched. "You'll find no evidence I had anything to do with any unpleasantness between Gaara-kun and the slug woman's girl."

"Not that we can use to prove it," Otokaze said dryly. "Neither of us would expect to find any." He sighed. "What is your proposal, Satetsu?"

"We need to end this." He let out a sigh of his own. "I propose this. Following the exams, we together push through a motion forbidding abstaining from a vote to appoint a Kazekage." He waited to see if there would be any objections. "We then each in turn put forward our name. If none of us can win enough votes, whichever of us three has the least support will drop out. We then repeat with the last two, and then all three of us vote for whoever is left. That should be enough to put someone on the Kazekage's throne, even if we can't get the rest to play along."

Chiyo snorted. "There's no disadvantage to agreeing tonight," she said, "but you can't be so naive as to expect any of us to actually drop out and hand the position to one of the other two."

"We'll see," Satetsu said. "We all want what's best for this village. We all know that this has gone on far too long. We all know this plan will end this, one way or another." There was a dangerous glint in his eyes for a moment, as though he considered saying something else, but he fell silent instead.

"Very well," Otokaze said. "We'll see what changes the exams bring, then."

* * *

><p>The two-story guest house that had seemed absurdly spacious when Sakura and Asuma had moved into it on their arrival at the Sand Village now seemed almost cramped. The bulk of the Leaf's delegation was staying not far away in dormitories alongside the other foreign ninja, but it would have been absurd to expect Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin or his nomad guests to bunk with them or provide their own lodging. Then there were eminently practical reasons why Jiraiya shouldn't be separated from Naruto, so Sakura had taken it upon herself to invite that particular team to stay in the guest house instead.<p>

Asuma's noises about the appearance of bias had been deftly countered by Jiraiya. "Anyone," the legendary ninja had said, "who would be fooled into thinking Sakura-chan wasn't biased if she hadn't invited them over, is too dumb to be a chuunin anyway. So their opinions don't count."

Of course, he might be wishing he hadn't argued in favor now, as he say across the kitchen table from Sakura rubbing a red mark on his cheek, a legacy of an… encounter between himself and Kurenai in the bathroom earlier this morning.

"Technically," Sakura said tentatively as she studied him, "I think I'm supposed to punish you." Which was… absurd, even if he deserved it. "Since I'm the Hokage's representative, and you're a ninja of the Leaf."

"Sure," Jiraiya said dryly. "It's always the man's fault." A put-upon, absolutely innocent expression appeared on his face. "I was merely going about my morning routine when she walked in on me."

"Your morning routine involves cloaking genjutsu?" Sakura asked.

"Indeed!" Jiraiya declared. "A valuable habit, handed down to me from the Third Hokage -"

"If you don't shut Ero-sennin up, Sakura-chan," Naruto called from the sitting room where he was not so surreptitiously eavesdropping on the conversation, "he'll go on like that for hours."

"I don't want to know," Sakura decided. "I think I'll just include this in my next report for Tsunade-shishou, and let her decide what to do with you."

Jiraiya winced. "Naruto, your girlfriend is developing into a cruel, cruel woman."

Sakura flushed. "I'm not -"

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto's growl cut her off. "Shut up!"

"Have fun, kids," Jiraiya said with a chuckle as he stood up. "I need to go talk to a hateful old crone, so I'll see you later." He formed a seal with one hand, and he was gone.

Sakura sighed. "The rest of you can come out now," she said.

Kurenai detached herself from the wall, the genjutsu hiding her presence discarded. "Morning routine, my ass," she said crudely, her crimson eyes still angry. "Filthy pervert is lucky I didn't neuter him or stick something unpleasant up his -"

The force of Hinata's blush could almost be felt downstairs from where she crouched behind the railing at the top of the stairs. "Kurenai-sensei!"

Chouji walked into the sitting room through the front door and Asuma was right behind him. "Well done, Sakura-taichou," the jounin said, a smirk on his face that faded as Kurenai turned her gaze on him.

Sakura sighed again. "I'm glad my pretending to be in charge is such an entertaining spectator sport," she said.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan." Asuma didn't sound particularly penitent, but he never did.

Sakura stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "I actually don't have anything I have to do today, do I?"

Asuma shrugged. "Unless one of the teams has a crisis."

"The rest of you aren't so lucky," Kurenai said sternly to the three genin. "There's not a lot of time to turn you three into a real team. I want to meet you out in the training ground in twenty minutes, so get ready."

"Understood," the three responded, and Kurenai nodded in satisfaction before heading for the door.

Asuma plopped down in the chair Jiraiya had vacated. "Chouji, Hinata-chan, scram," he said. "There's something I need to talk about with Naruto and Sakura privately."

Naruto came over and took a seat next to Sakura as the other two genin left. "What is it?" he asked seriously.

"Hmm," Asuma said. "I think maybe you should tell him, Sakura-chan." He smirked briefly.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"About you and Gaara." Asuma's face was serious.

"Oh," Sakura said weakly.

"Eh?" Naruto asked.

"Okay." Sakura took a deep breath. "At the Chuunin Exams back home, when I passed, there were some things said that… well… argh, it isn't important how it happened. But the Sand teams somehow convinced themselves that I was the one who beat Gaara during the invasion." She paused, waiting for an outburst.

When one didn't come, Asuma picked up the thread. "We think someone wants to assassinate Sakura-chan," he said, "since she is acting as Hokage-sama's representative. We've been using that story to ward whoever it is off, make them think it's too dangerous to attack her. Gaara is playing along, acting like he's scared of her."

Naruto burst out laughing, and Sakura stared at the table. "I guess it is kind of funny to think of me beating someone like Gaara," she said weakly.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, struggling to control himself. "It's not that. Just the idea of Gaara acting scared of anyone."

Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from snorting at that. "I suppose he isn't very good at it," she said.

"Will you play along too, Naruto?" Asuma asked seriously. "If they don't know already, the Sand teams taking the exam will find out you were here teammate soon enough. They'll probably ask questions about her, since the story's been spreading around the past few weeks."

Naruto grinned. "An excuse to talk about how awesome Sakura-chan is? I think I can do that!"

Sakura's face turned red hot. "Naruto," she snarled. "Don't be embarrassing."

* * *

><p>After - mostly - defusing Sakura's wrath, Naruto made his way to the training ground behind the guest house, a small field of sand and gravel studded with a handful of large boulders. He was still several minutes early by his reckoning, and neither Kurenai nor his teammates for the exams had made it to the grounds yet.<p>

The training ground wasn't empty, however. Aya and Hiroto sat cross-legged facing each other in the center of the field, meditating. As Naruto drew near, he saw patterns forming and erasing themselves in the sand between them. Neither nomad, nor their teacher Nori, had explained this morning ritual to Naruto, but he knew enough to wait respectfully off to the side for one of the pair to notice him, rather than interrupting.

That only took a few moments. The rapidly shifting sand stilled, and Aya lifted her head, eyes opening. "Naruto-kun," she said in greeting. Hiroto grunted, but didn't look at Naruto.

"Good morning, Aya-chan," Naruto said. "We're going to be using the training ground in a few minutes." He grinned. "You might want to get out of the way."

Aya sprang to her feet. "Thanks," she said, starting toward the edge of the training ground.

Hiroto slowly stood and started to follow, but he hesitated. "Do… you think we could watch, Naruto-san?"

"I don't see why not." All three teenagers started in surprise, then turned to see Yuuhi Kurenai perched atop the largest boulder.

"How long have you been there?" Naruto asked.

Kurenai smiled slightly. "Almost twenty minutes." She looked past Naruto. "Ah, here come Hinata-chan and Chouji-kun."

A few minutes later, the ninja were alone in the center of the field, the nomads safely on a boulder near the edge which Kurenai had declared off limits. "I'd been trying without success all morning," the jounin said, "to come up with some clever twist or gimmick to this. since it's traditional." She shrugged. "That's not really my style, though, and I don't really think one is necessary. None of you are new to this, you all know that teamwork is important and that you need to figure out how you mesh as a team."

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata murmured when the woman paused. Naruto and Chouji echoed her a moment later.

"Good," Kurenai said. She smiled. "Then there's no need for further talking. Come at me like you want to kill." She smirked. "I'll only be coming at you like I want to tickle." Her form wavered, and then she was gone.

In less than an instant, the three genin were back-to-back in a rough defensive formation. "Where is she, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I'm s-sorry," the kunoichi answered quietly. "But I can't -"

She was interrupted by light, feminine laughter. "One of the advantages to having Hinata-chan on my team," Kurenai's bodiless voice stated, "is that I have had plenty of opportunity to practice defeating the Byakugan with genjutsu."

"Katon: Fireball Technique!" Chouji roared, spitting up a globe of fire at the source of the voice.

Hinata shook her head. "She can cast her voice," she said. Then she snapped with uncharacteristic firmness, "Move!"

The three genin broke formation, scattering less than a second before a series of small fireballs erupted from the ground under where they'd been standing. "Katon: Fire Blossom Technique," Kurenai proclaimed.

Naruto's hands raced through seals. "Shadow Replication Technique!" he called out, summoning a half dozen clones. He sent one each to join up with Hinata and Chouji, and the other four scattered to the edges of the field. "You seem to know what you're doing, Hinata-chan," he called out. "Tell us what to do!"

"M-me?" Hinata stammered, but she recovered by the time Naruto's clone reached her. "She's using genjutsu to hide herself. She's too good at that to break it easily. We need area attacks."

"Understood," Chouji rumbled, pressing both hands to the ground. "Katon: Scorching Wave." A small semi-circle of flame rose up in front of his hands, then traveled outward, gaining height as it moved. It made it five feet before collapsing, but didn't hit anything.

Then Chouji stumbled forward under a strike from an unseen assailant as the clone beside him turned to smoke. "Behind me!" he shouted.

"Move!" the real Naruto snapped. The rotund boy didn't hesitate, melting into the ground. Naruto doubled-checked the position of Hinata and the nomads. "Fuuton: Gale Palm!"

The roaring wind picked up sand and small rocks, slamming into the back wall of the training ground with enough force to dent it and disrupting the clone Naruto had left at that edge of the field. "I suppose I did say to try to kill me," Kurenai's voice said, seeming amused.

"She was never there," Hinata said, her eyes relaxed. "I would have been able to see her if she was attacking."

"More genjutsu?" Chouji asked as he emerged beside her. "I felt her hit me!"

The eyes of the Naruto next to Hinata narrowed. "Genjutsu couldn't have gotten my replication," he said.

"Then what?" Chouji asked.

"She's underground! That's why you aren't seeing her even when she attacks!" the real Naruto shouted. His clones melted into the earth.

Hinata frowned as she reactivated her Byakugan, then jumped into the air. "R-right," she said. She threw an explosive kunai into the center of the training ground, near where they'd all started.

When the smoke died down, Kurenai was standing in the center of a small crater. Instants later, Naruto's clones erupted upward around her. She smiled, forming seals. "Fuuton: Eye of the Storm," she stated. A circle of wind surrounded her, tossing the clones aside to perish in small puffs of smoke.

"Human Bullet Tank!" Kurenai had to use the Replacement Technique to avoid Chouji's massive, rotating form.

She reappeared atop a boulder. "All right," she said. "That's enough to start." She jumped down to the ground, and the three genin reassembled in front of her.

"So, how'd we do?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty good," Kurenai allowed, "given that you haven't been a team before." She smiled. "And what do our guests think?"

Aya shuddered. "That was scary," she said.

"Second thoughts about becoming a ninja?" Hiroto said sourly.

Whatever response the older nomad might have given was never heard, as someone knocked loudly on the side of the wall by the entrance to attract attention.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted her with a wave. She wasn't still mad, was she? Then he saw Otokaze standing behind her.

"Aya-san," the Sand ninja said. "I've come to take you to see our ninja academy, like we discussed." Hiroto jumped down from the boulder, and Otokaze laughed. "Interested also, Hiroto-san?" he asked the young boy.

"O-of course not," Hiroto said. "I just want to see what lies you'll fill Aya-chan's head with."

Aya sighed as she landed beside Hiroto, then turned to bow to Kurenai. "Thank you for allowing us to watch," she said.

"It wasn't a problem," the Leaf jounin said.

"If you'll follow me," Otokaze prompted the two nomads, and they made their way over to him. He turned to Sakura briefly. "We have much to discuss, Haruno-san," he said quietly, but not quietly enough for Naruto not to hear. "I'll return later."

They left, and Sakura lingered for a moment, but left without saying anything. Kurenai clapped her hands, drawing the attention of the genin back to her. "All right. Here's what we're going to do. Naruto-kun, I'd like you to make some more shadow replications and put them underground. Hinata-chan, you can practice penetrating the ground with her vision on them.

"Are you any good with fire element, Naruto-kun?" she asked.

The boy shook his head. "Earth and wind are probably my best," he said. "Although I have problems with control for wind."

"I saw," Kurenai said.

"Earth and fire for me," Chouji stated.

"That's what I figured." Kurenai nodded to herself. "Chouji-kun, I'll be teaching you the Fire Blossom Technique." She glanced at Naruto. "Ordinarily, I might teach you an earth element replication technique, but you don't need that."

Naruto nodded. "Wind control practice?" he asked with a sigh.

Kurenai laughed. "That might be a plan."

* * *

><p>Sakura's meeting with Otokaze of the Explosion proved to be disappointing. Beyond the usual empty pleasantries that Sakura could recite in her sleep after the past couple weeks, he had passed along precisely two pieces of information. The first was a vague, plausibly deniable indication that it would politically useful for the Leaf to eliminate the Rock team during the second exam. Sakura had just passed that suggestion on to Asuma, and much to her relief if the jounin had chosen to do anything about that, he hadn't seen fit to inform her.<p>

The second piece of information was an invitation to the party Sakura was now attending, an apparently traditional event the night before the first exam for the exam staff and the jounin of the participating teams. The Sand's council was hosting the event in a shockingly lush garden on the grounds of the empty Kazekage's residence, a decision Sakura was sure was fraught with symbolism that escaped her.

After spending most of the afternoon helping the late arriving teams - a motley mixture of teams that shouldn't be taking the exam with only two jounin between them - Sakura only wanted to relax, but it would have been impolite for her to miss this. She felt even more out of place than usual, being reasonably sure that she was the youngest person at the party by several years. She had just managed to escape the attentions of a Waterfall kunoichi with entirely too much interest in what it was like to work for Tsunade of the legendary Sannin by and was making her way over to the obligatory punch bowl to refill her drink when someone deliberately stepped into her way.

"Ah," Sakura said to cover her surprise as she looked down at the much older woman. "Chiyo-dono, was it?" she asked.

"Of the Red Sand," the crone answered. "Do they still teach my name in your academy?"

Sakura pondered lying but figured an experienced ninja like Chiyo would see through it. "No," she answered, "but I know of the Sand's Honored Siblings." It had taken her an hour or so lying awake in bed after her meeting with the Sand's council to remember why the names Ebizou and Chiyo were familiar. Embarrassingly enough, her knowledge of that fact didn't even come from a history, but rather from a fairly bad romance set on the western front in the early years of the Great War.

The old woman grunted, apparently not pleased. "You're the slug woman's apprentice, are you?"

Sakura recalled that Chiyo had actually been the villain of that novel. "I have the honor of being Hokage-sama's student," she said carefully.

"Night lotus extract," the woman snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"What's the treatment?" Chiyo elaborated.

This was some sort of test? "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that poison," Sakura said after a moment.

Chiyo let out a dissatisfied grunt, but before she could say anything Sakura felt a familiar presence approaching from behind. "Ah, Sakura-taichou," Asuma said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "I need to borrow you a moment."

Sakura nodded politely to Chiyo and turned to follow Asuma away. Once they were a safe distance away, she whispered, "Thank you," to the jounin.

Asuma nodded. "Did you figure out what she wanted?"

"Have you ever heard of night lotus extract?" Sakura asked him quietly.

"Hmm." Asuma paused in thought for a moment. "That takes me back," he said. "It's an old contact poison we used to use," he said. "I think Hokage-sama developed it during the Great War. It was phased out back when I was a kid, though."

"She asked me what the treatment was," Sakura said. "I don't know if she was testing me or genuinely wanted to know."

"Curious," Asuma said.

"There you are! I've been meaning to say hello to you all evening." Sakura turned to the new voice, which was revealed to belong to Kitakami Ichizo, the young man acting as jounin for the team from the Snow Country.

Sakura gave him a shallow bow. "Kitakami-san, good evening," she said. She couldn't say she knew the man well, but he and his sister had spent several months in the Leaf Village. "I trust you've fully recovered from your injuries?" Sakura didn't know the details, but he had been crippled at the hands of an Akatsuki member hunting Naruto.

"Thanks to your Hokage," Ichizo said. "I've been able to return to active duty."

"How are things up there?" Asuma prompted after a moment.

"The clans are still arguing over the details," Ichizo said, "the daimyo is still skeptical, and the… there's some tricky negotiations that haven't finished, but there might be a Hidden Village of Snow again by the end of the year." He pointed at the forehead protector he wore. "It was a minor breakthrough when my sister convinced them to authorize us to wear these."

"Is Rui-san here?" Sakura asked, glancing about.

"No," Ichizo said with a shake of his head. "Genin weren't invited to this."

Sakura frowned. "If I recall correctly from Naruto's story," she said, "your sister wasn't genin level." Sakura had offered to spar with the Snow kunoichi a few times while she'd been in the Leaf Village, but Rui had always demurred, so Sakura didn't have any direct knowledge of her skills.

Ichizo's face fell. "It's… complicated," he said. The he sighed. "I won't go into the details here, but Rui lost the ability to use ice element techniques."

"Oh," Sakura said quietly, trying to imagine what it would be like to suddenly lose the techniques her fighting style depended on.

Asuma grunted. "Curious," was all he said.

"I suppose," Ichizo said. "I've heard that Naruto-san is taking the exams?" Sakura nodded. "Is Jiraiya-sama here?"

"Not at this party," Sakura said, "but he is in the village."

"Please tell him that I need to speak with him concerning… an organization of mutual interest," Ichizo said.

"We'll let him know," Asuma said, clearly giving the Snow ninja a reappraising look.

Ichizo bowed and made his excuses, leaving the two Leaf ninja alone for the moment. Sakura let Asuma lead her off to a bench in a quiet corner of the garden. "I'm not sure I can let you out of my sight anymore," the jounin said once they sat down. "That Chiyo might look like just an old woman, but she's dangerous."

"I know," Sakura said. "She and Hokage-sama fought during the war, didn't they?"

Asuma shrugged his shoulders. "They did, I believe," he said, then paused to light a cigarette. "But if I recall correctly the physical battle between them was only a footnote in their rivalry."

"Poisons and antidotes?" Sakura guessed.

"Got it in one," Asuma replied.

Before he could say anything else, they both sensed someone approaching, deliberately not hiding herself. "Temari-san," Sakura said in greeting. "I didn't know you were here."

"My job's to watch you," she said, "and you're here, so I am." She smirked. "At least I'm getting paid for this nonsense."

"What do you want?" Asuma asked.

"Thought you'd appreciate a warning," Temari said. "Kankuro says that Rock jounin is looking for you, Sakura-san. It's only a matter of time before she finds you here."

Asuma snuffed out his cigarette on the bench. "Troublesome," he remarked. "What do you want to do, Sakura-chan?"

"You're asking me?" Sakura said, but then she sighed. "We might as well let her find me. I can't hide from her for the next month, and if she tried something stupid this publicly it would only hurt her."

Asuma smirked. "All right, then."

Temari nodded. "I'll tell Kankuro," she said, departing.

"I'll be watching," Asuma said, standing. Sakura nodded, and he disappeared.

Five minutes later, the Rock jounin plopped herself down on the bench next to Sakura without waiting for an invitation. "Haruno Sakura-san, right?" she asked.

"Kazu Kurotsuchi-san," Sakura replied. She debated trying small talk, but decided that was pointless. "What do you want?"

"To the point," Kurotsuchi replied. "I like that." She reached into her uniform jacket, and Sakura tensed, but rather than a weapon it was a slim, black book the older kunoichi pulled out.

"Bingo book?" Sakura asked.

Kurotsuchi smirked, flipping through the book and casually ripping out a page. "I'll show you yours if you show me mine," she said lightly. "I'm curious what you Leaf know about me."

That was damnably little, Sakura knew. Kurotsuchi hadn't been in the book Asuma had originally brought along, as they hadn't anticipated meeting Rock ninja on this mission. Tsunade had sent a copy of the entry back with her response to Sakura's message. The woman was the old Tsuchikage's granddaughter, possibly a user of lava techniques, and rumored to desire the position of Tsuchikage herself. That was about it.

There was nothing worth hiding in that entry, and Sakura was curious what the paper Kurotsuchi held said. She'd known that the other villages might have added her to the books, simply because she was the Hokage's apprentice, but it was another thing entirely to be directly confronted with it. "I'm not carrying yours with me," Sakura said, a little regretfully. She didn't have permission to be sharing that information anyway.

"I am, though," Asuma said as he stepped out of the shadows behind the bench.

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show yourself, Bodyguard-san," Kurotsuchi said.

"Your call, Sakura-taichou," Asuma said, reaching into his own vest.

Sakura decided that counted as permission. "All right," she said. Asuma handed her Kurotsuchi's entry, and she exchanged pages with the Rock woman.

Then she paled as she studied her own entry. The first few lines of the entry were right - name, gender, her affiliation with the Leaf Village, and a photograph of her she guessed had been taken during the finals of the Chuunin Exam, possibly before her semifinal fight with Neji. It was all downhill from there, though.

The first oddity was her status as an "A-rank Threat, Engage With Caution." The next line, although it acknowledged that her "public rank" was chuunin, declared her to be a jounin. The couple lines of biographical data confidently declared her academy records to be obvious forgeries - wasn't that a creepy thought, that foreign spies had been studying her grades - and identified her as a likely graduate of the ANBU Root Program, whatever that was. Kakashi's Team Seven was mentioned, but as an ANBU special operations squad masquerading as an ordinary genin team. Apparently their mission to Wave Country had been a targeted assassination of Gatou and Zabuza, which Sakura had to admit was probably more believable than the real story.

The list of her known abilities was mostly accurate, based on what she had shown in the Chuunin Exam finals, but whoever had reported on those assumed that she'd been holding back in those fights. It also speculated that she might be a doujutsu user, probably due to the same source witnessing her cousin Midori's techniques, but at least acknowledged that she hadn't displayed any such abilities publicly.

"That's it?" Kurotsuchi said irritably, crumpling up her paper in one hand. "I need to take more missions in the south." She glanced at Sakura, and suddenly laughed. "I guess there's something in there we're not supposed to know," she said happily.

Sakura could feel Asuma's curiosity, and she handed the page back to him. After a moment he grunted. "Hokage-sama will want to see this," he said seriously, and Sakura had to keep herself from groaning.

Kurotsuchi did groan. "Man," she said, "if it turns out I've given away an intelligence source, that bastard Hojo will have my head." She grinned. "I guess I can at least tell him we're getting the good stuff. Although I've picked up a few more details here." Sakura couldn't tell if the woman was mocking her, having guessed that her inflated reputation was fraudulent from observing her, or whether she'd been taken in by the stories about her defeating Gaara.

She could only pray that Tsunade didn't share that ridiculous bingo book entry with Anko.

* * *

><p><strong>Week Five<strong>

Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji arrived at the location for the first exam close to an hour early. They found themselves joining what looked like more than a dozen genin milling around outside the closed gates of the Sand's ninja academy ground. Two grim-faced, uniformed Sand ninja stood on either side of the entrance, silently discouraging any attempt to pass.

There were a couple teams each from Waterfall and Grass, and one team of older genin from the Leaf, but Naruto didn't recognize any of them. "No one from the Sand," Chouji commented quietly.

Naruto frowned, remembering the start of the chuunin exams he had participated in. "You think this is part of the test?" he asked.

Hinata formed a seal. "Byakugan!" She relaxed her eyes after a moment. "There's already a lot of people inside," she whispered quietly. "It looks like there's a back entrance we're supposed to use." She lead the way down a side street and around the academy grounds to a smaller, open gate. Inside, a desk was set up, and the three of them were able to hand in their final application forms and get directions to the classroom where the exam would be given. As they were doing so, one of the Grass teams from out front showed up.

"Followed us?" Naruto asked Hinata quietly as they headed inside. She nodded.

"That counts," Chouji commented.

When they neared the exam room, they were greeted by the sound of weapons clashing. After an exchange of glances, Naruto sent a shadow replication to open the door, which disrupted itself as soon as its mission was done. As though that was an invitation, a boy flew backward through the open door, slamming against the opposite wall.

He was followed by a furious Leaf kunoichi, who looked no younger than twenty-five years old. "You Sound bastards have a lot of nerve showing up here," she said, ignoring Naruto's team as she stalked over to the stunned boy. He shook his head, starting to rise, and the woman picked him up by the neck, slamming him against the wall a second time.

"S-should we," Hinata began, but Naruto was already moving.

"Hey, lady," he said, grasping her arm. "I think that's enough, huh?"

The woman glared at him. "You," she snarled, but before she could say anything more she stiffened and toppled over, releasing her grip on the boy. Naruto moved to support him before he could fall.

Standing behind the fallen Leaf kunoichi was a younger, redheaded girl, probably the same age as Naruto. She held a senbon in one hand, and used the other to adjust her glasses. "Thanks for the distraction," she said.

Naruto glanced at her forehead protector, which he didn't recognize. "Hidden Music?" Chouji asked as he walked up, followed by Hinata a moment later.

The boy Naruto was supporting nodded weakly. "Yeah," he said shakily, stepping away from Naruto. "Thanks," he told him.

Hinata knelt down beside the fallen woman. "Poison?" she asked.

"Yeah," the redhead answered distractedly, her eyes still focused on Naruto. "Won't kill her, honest." She paused. "Your chakra is… weird," she said to Naruto. "Cool, but weird."

Another Music kunoichi ran up. "Karin-chan, Juichiro-kun, are you… Naruto-san?"

It took Naruto a moment to recognize her. "Sasame-chan!" he exclaimed in greeting. The Fuuma Clan girl had cut her red-orange hair shorter and had acquired a nasty-looking scar on one cheek since he'd met her in Rice Field Country when searching for Orochimaru's hideout.

They were interrupted by a new voice. "What the hell? Karin? You're dead!"

The first Music kunoichi shuddered, tearing her eyes away from Naruto and groaning as she looked over his shoulder. "Of all the," she muttered.

Naruto turned to look behind him, and saw the Grass team that had been following his team. Hinata suddenly stood, interposing herself between Naruto and Karin. "W-what's going on?" she asked.

Sasame glanced between her female teammate and the Grass team, who were looking more upset by the moment. "You should tell them, Karin-chan," she said softly.

Karin groaned again. "Okay, look," she said loudly, stepping past Naruto and Hinata to face the Grass genin. "I was an infiltrator, a spy for… for the Hidden Sound, from the start," she continued. "I faked my death once my mission was done."

"You… we were teammates for two years," one of the Grass ninja said, his face moving between disbelief and betrayal. "I… I thought we were -"

"Friends?" Karin asked coldly. "I'd be a poor spy if you didn't think that."

"You don't need to be so cruel, Karin-chan," Sasame said.

A loud cough interrupted the conversation, and everyone looked up to see a uniformed Sand ninja. "You lot loiter out here long enough, and you'll be late," he said, gesturing at the doors. "And if any of these idiots who've already gotten themselves knocked out of the exams are dead, I'll disqualify you all also." Naruto followed the gesture and saw two slumped-over forms by the door, likely the fallen Leaf kunoichi's teammates. "Now, get inside."

"They'll be awake in an hour," Karin said calmly, already turning away to go back inside the classroom.

"You," one of the Grass snarled.

"Fighting in front of the examiner," the Sand ninja said, "is a stupid way to get disqualified."

That shut everyone up long enough for them to get inside the classroom. The room was quiet, and every eye was on the three teams, no doubt attracted by the sounds of fighting from outside. Naruto snorted. He wasn't scared of any of these people.

"There's some seats by the front," Hinata said, and the three Leaf ninja parted ways from the other two teams, making their way through the rows of desks to the front. Once they were seated, a few more teams filed in quietly, and apparently had difficulty finding seats, as they wound up standing near the back of the room.

"This is the part I'm nervous about," Naruto admitted to his teammates as they waited.

"You, nervous?" Chouji asked. "I don't think I've ever seen that." He pulled out a bag of potato chips from somewhere and started to eat them.

"Well, Ero-sennin hasn't exactly been giving me a lot of written tests," Naruto replied.

"There's… always a trick," Hinata offered. "You figured it out the first time."

The low buzz of conversation suddenly hushed. Naruto turned around in his seat to look for the cause, and saw that a trio he recognized standing just inside the doorway. The three of them were dressed in almost uniform brown shirts and pants, and their forehead protectors were not shared by anyone else in the exams.

"The Hidden Rock team," Chouji stated. He carefully folded over the open top of his half-finished bag of chips and stashed it away somewhere.

"I know them," Naruto said. "They're all right."

"Hey, what are you idiots staring at, huh?" the lead member of the three Rock, a boy with short black hair, asked loudly. "We ain't scared of any of you, so find something else to look at!"

Chouji chuckled. "That's a little familiar," he said.

Naruto sighed. "That's Akira," he said. "He's… annoying."

Chouji chuckled again. "Chouji-kun!" Hinata protested.

The girl at Akira's back - Mako - giggled nervously. Naruto was pretty sure when they'd met before her dark hair had been shorter and worn in a ponytail rather than loose, and definitely not dyed with streaks of red. "Yeah!" she said after a moment.

The third member of the team, Gonkuro, didn't seem to have changed much to Naruto's eyes, and he briefly buried his face in one hand before grabbing both of his teammates by the back of their shirts. His hissed something quietly to them that Naruto couldn't make out, and without further incident the Rock team faded away to the back of the room.

Then all attention refocused on the front, as the Sand ninja who had interrupted the brewing fight outside appeared behind the teacher's desk. "All right, listen up!" he shouted, pounding the desk with one fist. "I am Shirou of the Ash Waste, and I am the examiner for the first exam of these Chuunin Selection Exams, which begins now. From now until you fail or the second exam begins, you are under my authority. There is only one rule: do anything stupid, and I will fail you immediately!"

"What the hell does that mean?" a genin from Grass asked. "How are we supposed to know what's 'stupid'?"

"If you can't figure that out on your own," Shirou said dryly, "you're stupid and don't deserve to be a chuunin. You and your team fail."

A girl sitting next to the protestor stood up, slamming her hands onto her desk. "What? You can't do that! It's not fair to fail all three of us just because -"

The examiner burst into laughter. "I love it when I'm proven right." He pointed at the two Grass ninja, and then at a third sitting next to them. "Fail, fail, and fail." He pointed at the door. "Get out of here and go home to your mothers."

"Asshole," the third member of the team muttered as he stood, provoking another laugh from the examiner, and the Grass team slowly made its way out of the room. None of the other genin dared to laugh.

Once the door shut behind them, Shirou spoke once more. "Are there any other questions?" he asked. There was silence for a moment, and then he pointed toward the back of the room. "You!" he snapped.

Naruto turned to see that a Leaf ninja standing near the rear wall had raised his hand. "Umm… sir," he began, "There… ah… don't seem to be enough seats for everyone. What should we do?"

Shirou clapped once. "Good question. I am about to go round up my lazy assistants. Everyone still standing when I return fails!" He vanished in a puff of smoke.

"This guy's crazy," Naruto said as the rear of the room descended into chaos. "Worse than the crazy examiner lady from our exams."

Hinata had activated her Bloodline Limit. "Watch out!" she shouted, moments before a large, rotund Sand ninja landed on the floor in front of their desks. "Get up, kids," he proclaimed. "Babies like you don't need to be taking this exam." Two more Sand ninja appeared behind him.

Chouji reacted before Naruto could, one arm swelling to gargantuan proportions before he backhanded the first Sand ninja into one of his teammates. Both went flying into a chalkboard at the front of the room. The third member of their team reached for a weapon.

Naruto summoned a shadow replication that appeared on top of his desk and instantly moved into a flying kick. The third Sand ninja landed on top of his teammates just as they were starting to rise. Naruto's replication disrupted itself.

Then there was the sound of a series of small detonations, and the walls of the room were suddenly lined by uniformed Sand chuunin. The fighting ended instantly and the examiner reappeared at the front of the room. He gave the three ninja who had attacked Naruto's team a disgusted glance and kicked the one on top. "You three fail," he said calmly. "And so does everyone who doesn't have a seat."

There were murmurs of discontent but no open protests as at least eight teams started trooping toward the exit. One Waterfall team hesitated, two standing ninja clustering around their fallen teammate. One of the chuunin detached himself from the wall and joined them. "Sir, we have a casualty!"

"Dead?" Shirou asked, sounding angry.

"Not yet," one of the Waterfall said, glaring at a seated Sand ninja, who smirked.

"Kunai to the gut," the Sand chuunin diagnosed calmly. "She'll live with medical attention."

"Then stop wasting time," Shirou commanded, and another chuunin joined the first, the two of them carefully lifting the fallen Waterfall and escorting her team to the exit.

Meanwhile, Shirou stalked over to the Sand genin who was apparently responsible, roughly lifting him out of his seat and depositing him on the ground. He glanced about, then grabbed two more Sand and plopped them down next to their teammate. "Using deadly force on an allied ninja without explicit instruction," he proclaimed, "is stupid. Fail, fail, and fail."

"You can't prove anything," the first Sand genin said smugly. He rose and started to head back to his desk.

Shirou kicked his legs out from under him. "I don't have to." He picked the genin up with one arm and threw him all the way across the room and out the back door. "Fail," he repeated calmly. The other two ninja on the floor exchanged glances and left in more orderly fashion.

The examiner nodded in satisfaction, then marched to the back of the room. Naruto blinked, noticing one three-man team calmly sitting on the floor and making no move to leave. "This should be good," Shirou said loudly.

"You said," one of the genin on the floor said, "that everyone still standing would fail. We aren't standing."

Shirou spun about to face the genin seated in their desks. "Do any of you honestly think that was what I meant?" he asked. No one answered. He turned back to the team on the floor. "Playing clever word games with orders instead of actually completing your mission is stupid. Fail, fail, and fail."

The failed team chose not to argue, and Shirou returned to the front of the room. While no one was looking, three large stacks of papers had appeared on the teacher's desk. "This will be a written examination," Shirou proclaimed. "If you are surprised by that, you're stupid and should fail, but I won't bother because you probably will anyway."

Three chuunin went to the front and each picked up one of the stacks of tests. "Each time I call," Shirou said. "One member from each team will rise and line up in an orderly fashion by the door. You will be led to where you will take the exam." He smiled. "Please try to be clever about this," he said. "The fewer exams I have to grade, the better."

* * *

><p>Naruto was doing better on the written exam than he had expected. The two history questions - one about the establishment of the Leaf-Sand Alliance and another about a famous battle between the Cloud and Rock during the Great War - he'd remembered from Jiraiya's stories. Of the remaining questions, there were only two of them where he hadn't been able to put anything down. The rest, although he wasn't confident on them, he'd at least been able to work something out.<p>

He was pretty sure these questions were a lot easier than the last time he'd taken the exam, but he was also pretty sure he wouldn't had done as well on these same questions back then, either. Maybe Jiraiya really did know what he was doing… sometimes, anyway. Or maybe Naruto was just inherently awesome. That was probably more likely, he thought as he wondered what Jiraiya was up to right now - almost certainly something perverted.

Throughout the test, there had been a steady stream of genin being failed, either for cheating directly or because one of their teammates in the other rooms had been caught. "Getting caught cheating is stupid," one of the exam proctors had declared after the first one, no doubt quoting the lead examiner. There had been a flurry of failures after that statement, leading the same proctor to declare, "Thinking you can get away with cheating is also stupid." Almost half of the people in the exam room with Naruto had been failed by now.

Now, a warning of five minutes remaining had been given, and Naruto was alternating between the two questions he'd left blank, hoping to remember something that would help him. There was some sort of rule about angles and triangles that would help with the third question, wasn't there? And he was pretty sure there was some sort of simple trick to deciphering that coded message in the ninth question that he was just missing.

"Time," a proctor seated at the teacher's desk called out. Naruto set down his pencil instantly. The proctor seemed disappointed as her gaze swept the room. "I guess we weeded out everyone stupid enough to keep working," she said. The rest of the proctors gathered everyone's papers in silence.

Another proctor moved to the front of the room. "We will now begin the tenth and final question of this exam," he stated calmly. Murmurs filled the and Naruto leaned forward in his seat. All the exam veterans knew that the real exam began now.

"From this point forward," the proctor continued, "this is no longer a team examination. If your teammates fail, you will still be allowed to proceed to the second exam." The proctor pointed at someone behind Naruto. "You have a question?"

"Yes, sir," a girl said. "How can someone proceed without their team in the second exam? It's always a -"

The proctor cut her off. "You might or might not be at a disadvantage in the second exam without a full team," he said. "Every time the Chuunin Selection Exams are held, the rules are different."

The other proctors started handing out papers, and Naruto looked at his curiously when he received it. There was no question printed on it, only a space for his own name, then two lines. Next to each line was two boxes, labeled "Take" and "Don't Take."

"Write your own name at the top," the lead proctor said, "then the names of each of your teammates on the lines." Briefly, the room was filled with the scratching of pencils on paper, and Naruto followed the instructions as quickly as he could.

"I will now explain the rules," the proctor said, reading from a piece of paper. "There will be no questions taken. For each of your teammates, you have a choice. You can choose to take points from that teammate or not to take points.

"If neither of you choose to take points, your score will remain unchanged. If you choose to take points and your teammate does not, five points will be taken from your teammate and given to you. If your teammate takes points and you do not, the reverse. If both of you choose to take points, one point will be deducted from both of your scores. Your choice with each teammate is independent of your choice with the other.

"Those are the rules. You have five minutes to decide, beginning now."

Naruto stared at the paper for only a moment before deciding that this was a stupid question, and quickly marked the "Don't Take" box next to both Hinata's name and Chouji's. What kind of asshole would steal points from their own teammates?

Then he had to impatiently wait five minutes for the proctor seated at the teacher's desk to announce that time was up again, and a couple minutes more for the proctors to collect the papers. Then they were ordered to line up again and led back to the classroom where the exam had started. Silent proctors lined the walls of the room, and the ones who had led Naruto's group back joined them, but the examiner was nowhere to be found.

With the room much emptier after so many teams had failed - Naruto guessed that there were around thirty teams left - it was easy to see Chouji and Hinata seated in their old seats at the front, and Naruto quickly joined them.

"Hey, Naruto," Chouji greeted him.

Naruto nodded, then glanced at Hinata, who looked away from him. "What's wrong, Hinata-chan?"

She seemed to curl in on herself. "N-nothing," she stammered.

Chouji grunted. "You didn't take our points, did you?" he asked.

"Hinata-chan wouldn't do that!" Naruto protested angrily.

Hinata let out a quiet whimper. "I didn't," she said softly. "But I almost did. I'm sorry."

"Why?" Chouji asked.

"I-it's… so important that I pass this time," Hinata said. "I can't -"

"It's fine," Naruto said, clapping her on the back. He ignored her quiet protest. "You did the right thing in the end."

"R-right," Hinata said, not sounding totally convinced, but any more conversation was cut off as a shadow fell over their desks.

Naruto looked up at the dark-haired girl in a white kimono. "Rui-san!" he said happily.

The Snow kunoichi smiled slightly. "Naruto-san," she said. "I thought I saw you before the exam, but there wasn't a chance to come over and talk."

"W-who's this?" Hinata asked.

"I'm Kitakami Rui, from Snow Country," the girl introduced herself. "I'm a friend of Naruto's. You two are?"

"Hyuuga Hinata."

"Akimichi Chouji."

"A pleasure to meet you," Rui said. "I should get back to my team, I just wanted to say hello… and my brother told me to say hello to you to, Naru-chan." She smiled and walked away. Naruto's face fell.

"N-Naru-chan?" Hinata asked weakly. Chouji snorted.

"It's a… it's a very long, boring story." Naruto forced a laugh. "It's not important."

"Is… is… she…" Whatever Hinata was intending to ask was lost as the examiner appeared at the front of the classroom in a burst of smoke.

"Those of you who took points from your teammates," Shirou of the Ash Waste said without any introduction, "are worse than stupid, and you and your teams fail." He pounded the teacher's desk with one hand. "To betray your teammates for personal gain is unforgivable! If you did that on a real mission, you would be betraying not only your team, but your client and your village. Scum like you not only don't deserve to be chuunin, you don't deserve to live."

"Wait!" a boy from Grass protested. "I knew Kei-chan wasn't good at written tests, and she knew I was really good at them, so I deliberately let her take my points! It's a legitimate strategy to ensure the whole team passes!"

"No, it isn't," Shirou said calmly, clearly having expected this. "None of you knew whether the others' tests were the same difficultly. None of you were told what the point scale was on this test, or what a passing score was. That makes your choice a stupid strategy." He smiled coldly. "You might deserve to live, but you still don't deserve to be chuunin."

A young boy from Leaf Naruto didn't recognize stood. "Why does the whole team fail? We were told this was no longer a team exam."

"If you try to take the second exam without a full team," Shirou said, not unkindly, "you will probably die."

The Leaf genin swallowed loudly and sat down without any further protest. Six proctors stepped away from the wall and over to genin teams, escorting them to the exit. When they were gone, the examiner nodded firmly. "Those of you who are still here," he said, "pass the first exam of these Chuunin Selection Exams. Congratulations, you aren't too stupid to be a chuunin."

There was a brief outpouring of excitement, and then another Sand ninja appeared next to Shirou in a puff of smoke. "Be silent," he said in a soft voice that still carried over the sound. "The second exam of the Chuunin Selection Exams begins immediately.

"I am Reki of the White Stone, and I will be the examiner. You are all now under my authority." The proctors began to hand out forms, and when he got his Naruto saw that it was a liability form, much like the one he'd signed before the second exam the first time. Reki continued, "From this point on, there is a risk of injury or death. You will have precisely two hours to gather supplies for a week-long journey through the desert. You will reconvene here at that time with your signed forms. If you do not, or choose not to sign the form, you and your team will be failed. Are there any questions?"

There weren't any, and the new examiner nodded once. "You are dismissed."

* * *

><p>Sakura sighed as she watched the backs of the Leaf teams that failed the first exam disappear down the narrow pass that led out of the Sand Village. Of the eighteen teams the Leaf had fielded, only six remained for the second exam, and only one of those was from the eight extra teams Tsunade had sent. Sakura wasn't sure whether all of that added up to a good performance or not.<p>

"That was a cute little speech," Temari said. "All that encouraging bullcrap about how failing doesn't make you a failure. Nothing like what we tell ours. Is that what you wished your teacher had said to you after you got knocked out?"

Actually, after she'd been knocked out, her teacher had ignored her existence for the next thirty days. The situation had been unusual, and Kakashi hadn't had any reason to expect that after that month everything would start going to hell and not let up for the next year, but it still irked her a little when she thought of it. "What do you tell yours?" she asked her escort after a moment as they turned to leave the inner courtyard and head into the village proper.

Temari snorted. "You screwed up, and we're going to beat the failure out of you over the next six months so you won't screw up next time."

"That's awful," Sakura said.

"It's a kick in the pants," Temari replied with a shrug. "That's what most of them need. Probably what you needed."

She couldn't really say the older girl was wrong. "Is that what you needed?" Sakura asked. As they passed through the gates, Asuma detached himself from the wall and moved to shadow them. With all the other jounin accompanying their teams to the second exam or back to the Leaf village, he had once again appointed himself Sakura's perpetual bodyguard.

"Me?" Temari laughed. "Of course I didn't. Unlike you, the only reason I didn't pass the first time was because of… well, circumstances," she finished lamely.

Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from snorting, although she refrained from commenting. The other girl would probably not react well to her opinion that she had been completely humiliated by Shikamaru in their fight, even if she'd technically won. Over the past weeks, she'd grown used enough to the sense of Asuma's presence that she thought she could feel his amusement also.

"Are you laughing at me?" Temari asked. "That's rich, coming from you. How'd you pass, anyway? Get a strong team to carry you through the second exam, and luck out on your first round opponent?"

Sakura's face hardened. Was Temari stupid enough to really think that? "That's rich," she said without thinking, "coming from you. At least I earned my promotion."

Temari stopped dead in the middle of the street. "What do you mean?" she asked calmly.

"Well," Sakura said, "'circumstances' or not, you didn't pass that first time, and you weren't there when I passed or at Grass last time," she said. She smiled wickedly. "We heard all about how you got promoted." Specifically, her youngest brother had declared all three siblings to be chuunin, and no one had been brave enough to argue with Gaara of the Desert.

Temari twitched, expressions passing over her face before finally settling on amusement. "What do you know? Kick you enough and you have a decent bite, Pink." Asuma snorted. "We'll have to have that spar sometime."

"Sometime, maybe," Sakura said, but she doubted it. She couldn't afford to lose, or even almost lose, to Temari when she was supposed to be strong enough to make Gaara scared.

The rest of the journey back to their guest house passed without incident, and Temari left Asuma and Sakura at the entrance, pleading the need to go put the fear of her back into her genin team. Inside, Jiraiya was waiting for them. "Everyone safely on their way home?"

Sakura plopped herself down on the seat across from him. "Yes, Jiraiya-sama."

Asuma started to head upstairs, but the Sannin waved him over to the table. When the jounin had taken a seat, Jiraiya spoke. "You've been charting out the political situation here, right Sarutobi-kun?"

"Yes, sir." Asuma glanced at Sakura. "Do it."

She nodded, and formed seals. "Done," she said, once the anti-eavesdropping genjutsu was in place.

Jiraiya nodded. "Not bad, kid." His attention returned to Asuma. "That old crone, Chiyo of the Red Sand. How trustworthy is she?"

Asuma sighed, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. "To be honest, I'd rather have Satetsu as the next Kazekage," he said. "He's in favor of allying with the Rock, but only as a matter of practicality, not one of principle. We'd only have to convince him that we're still more useful allies than they would be.

"Chiyo's not like that. She's still holding grudges from the Great War and hates the Leaf. We'd never get her to budge an inch on anything."

Jiraiya snorted. "I knew that much," he said. "But if she gave her word, do you think she could be trusted?"

"Maybe," Asuma said after a moment, "but I wouldn't trust her without a backup plan."

"Figures," Jiraiya said.

"What do you need her help for?" Sakura asked.

Jiraiya glanced at her, clearly debating what to say, then sighed. "She's the last person I know how to get in touch with," he said, "with any experience with a seal like Naruto's."

"Problems?" Asuma asked seriously, snuffing out his cigarette.

Jiraiya waved a hand. "Yes, but no worse than they've been for a year or so."

"Speaking of… that," Sakura said. She still wasn't comfortable talking about this, particularly without Naruto here. "Is it… wise, Jiraiya-sama, for you to let Naruto go off for the second exam? You said you ran into one of those Akatsuki on the way here."

"Otokaze has the Sand on full alert," Jiraiya said, "and he's got six Leaf jounin near him until the exam starts."

"That kind of thing didn't stop Orochimaru," Sakura said bitterly.

"I know," Jiraiya said, almost as bitter. "That's why as soon as I'm done putting in a few more public appearance here, I'll be heading to catch up with them on the way to the exam site. I'll be shadowing Naruto the whole way through the exam. If Akatsuki is dumb enough to try anything…" The Sannin made a fist and caught it in his other hand. "I'll get a chance to thin their numbers."

"Good luck," Asuma said. "Kurenai's been itching for a rematch with that Itachi."

Jiraiya winced. "I didn't think Yuuhi-san was that stupid. If he's there, I'm going to take Naruto and run."

"He's that strong?" Sakura asked. If Jiraiya was scared, how could she even hope to help protect Naruto from him?

"I scared him off the last time we fought," Jiraiya said, "but I don't know if I could kill him without dying myself." He sighed. "And on that morbid note, I'm heading out. Enjoy your quiet week until I come back with the brat, and keep an eye out on Aya-chan and Hiroto-kun for me."

Sakura dropped her genjutsu, and Jiraiya vanished in a puff of smoke. Asuma stared at his unfinished cigarette. "Lovely," he said.

"I guess it's just the two of us again, then," Sakura said. Aya and Hiroto were currently out somewhere; Sakura honestly hadn't been paying too much attention to the pair of nomads.

Asuma grunted. "We have to be on guard, then."

The next hours passed quietly, though, until Aya and Hiroto returned. Sakura opened the door for them, and vaguely recognized the Sand ninja escorting it from the Sand's council. "Yuura-san, was it?" she asked politely.

The young, bearded man nodded. "That's correct, Haruno-dono."

Sakura barely kept her face from flushing. "There's no need to be so formal," she said.

Asuma approached her from behind. "Do you need something, Yuura-san?" he asked.

"No," the Sand councilor replied, "I'm just escorting Aya-chan and Hiroto-kun back from the academy." He smiled. "They've both agreed to give our students a demonstration of their abilities later this week. I think either of them would make us proud as ninja."

"You're too kind," Aya murmured. Hiroto just grunted.

"Good evening, then," Asuma said firmly.

Yuura nodded, seemingly not offended. "Good evening." He turned to leave, only to stop when Hiroto spoke suddenly.

"Gaara of the Desert," he said. "I want to meet him."

Sakura blinked. That was… unexpected.

Yuura turned back, a thoughtful frown on his face. "I suppose that could be arranged," he said, then he gave Sakura a glance. "Haruno-san?"

Sakura looked at Asuma, but the jounin was impassive. "I'm not their commander or mother," she said after a moment, trying to project the nonchalance of someone with no reason to be concerned by the mention of the Gaara.

"As you say," Yuura replied. He bowed slightly. "By your leave, then."

* * *

><p>"I will now explain the rules of the second exam," Reki of the White Stone said, sounding bored, after he halted the procession of genin and chuunin proctors in front of a stone wall in the middle of the desert. He laid one hand on the wall. "This is the edge of the Hidden Sand's twelfth large scale training arena."<p>

Hyuuga Hinata smiled as she watched Naruto grin widely out of the corner of her eye. She didn't need to use her Byakugan to tell that the blond was glad that the first exam was over and the second was about to begin.

Reki stifled a yawn before continuing, pulling out a several-inch long fang. "This is the tooth of a sand dragon. Several are available inside the arena." Two brown, hollow ceramic half-cylinders fell out of Reki's loose sleeve into his other hand. "Each team will be provided one of these." Casually, he placed the fang inside of one half-cylinder, then put the other on top, sealing the cylinder around the sand dragon tooth. Green lines glowed briefly on the object, then twisted to form the characters for chuunin.

Hinata activated her eyes too late, and caught only the last movements of chakra running along hidden seals. The glow faded, and even the Byakugan could detect no sign of a seam where the halves of the cylinder had met. A little disappointed to have missed the real action, she let her eyesight return to normal.

Reki continued, "Your mission is to make one of these and turn it in at the tower located at the far end of the this training ground within five days. If you do not do so with all of your team intact, you will be failed. If you attempt to leave the training arena at any time, you will be failed. Other than that there are no rules." Reki yawned once, tossed the cylinder in the air, and caught it with his other hand. It broke in half, and he tossed one half at each of the two closest teams. The fang he held on to. "Proctors, take your assigned teams to their starting locations. I'm done here." A brief, warm breeze kicked up sand, and Reki was gone.

Hinata frowned as she considered the rules and the objectives. The half-cylinders were basically another form of the Heaven and Earth scrolls that had been used for the second exams at Leaf and Grass. It was slightly more lenient even, given that they were all identical, so any two would do. The tooth was worrisome, though. There were several available, but Reki had not said anything about how many or how they were to be attained. There was probably going to be some sort of trick to that.

Naruto didn't seem concerned. "This'll be a piece of cake," he proclaimed.

"Who wants this?"

The whole team turned to see a short Sand kunoichi standing behind them. She held out one of the brown half-cylinders, and when neither Chouji nor Naruto moved to take it, Hinata accepted it, quickly secreting it away. Without another word the Sand ninja turned and started walking away. Naruto grinned. "Let's go!" he almost shouted as he started to trail her.

"Right," Hinata said quietly, and she and Chouji followed.

The proctor led them at a quick pace for almost an hour, following the wall. They finally stopped in front of a chain link gate. "Only a few minutes until you start," the woman said, taking a position in front of the door.

Chouji pulled out a ration bar and devoured it. "Plans?" he asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Go in, get a tooth, get one of those funky cylinder things, head for the tower. What more do we need?"

"Is there anything you can tell us about the layout of the arena?" Hinata asked the woman. "Or how we're supposed to get a sand dragon fang?"

She pointed in the direction they'd been heading. "Tower is that way. Nothing else I can say." She opened the gate and stepped aside. "Your five days start now."

Naruto ran inside, and after a moment Hinata followed him somewhat more slowly. Chouji trailed her, and the gate clanged shut behind them. Naruto was waiting, looking about as though in realization that he had no idea where to go.

"Lovely country, isn't this?" Chouji asked as they studied the terrain in front of them. It was a desolate, rough badland. Rocky ridge followed ridge, separated by deep gorges. The only sign of life was a handful of hardy plants, small wisps of green sheltered by cracks in the rock.

Naruto scratched one of his arms. "It's worse further west," he commented. "Nothing but sand for miles and miles." So was that where he had been training with Jiraiya? It would explain those sand priests that had showed up with him.

Hinata formed a seal and the veins around her eyes bulged. She allowed herself just a moment to focus her attention on Naruto - although his chakra coils were less comforting to watch now that she knew why they were so different from everyone else's. Then she widened her focus. "There's no one around," she said. Except for the Sand proctor, still standing outside the gate, but she didn't count.

"If this is anything like the other exams, all the entrance points are evenly spread out," Chouji said.

Naruto looked thoughtful. "Then I guess we just head for the middle?" he asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Chouji agreed, and without further discussion the three started on their way. Not wanting to waste chakra, Hinata relaxed her Byakugan, but she kept reactivating it and checking for potential enemies every few minutes. She wasn't with Shino and Kiba anymore. Shino's insect scouts or Kiba and Akamaru's noses weren't going to pick up the slack while she rested her eyes.

Despite all the advantages they had as ninja, the three Leaf genin made slow progress across the wasteland. Many of the valleys were too wide to leap, and even though they could walk up and down rather than having to climb, it still took time and energy. The sun climbed in the sky and the temperature rose, and Hinata was glad that they'd brought as much water as they had. They'd have to find more somewhere if they were going to be out here for five days, but they had enough for at least the first couple.

They had paused after climbing up a ridge to rest and drink when Hinata finally found something when she checked the surrounding area. "I think I know how we're supposed to get a sand dragon fang," she said, a sinking feeling in her gut as she let her eyes relax.

Chouji swallowed the last of another ration bar. "What is it, Hinata-san?" ha asked.

She pointed. "A couple of valleys over that way is what I'm pretty sure is a sand dragon, sleeping in a boulder's shadow."

Naruto cracked his knuckles. "So we just have to kill it?" he asked. "Easy."

"Um," Hinata began, "it's… maybe twenty feet long?" The massive lizard also had a more active chakra system, even asleep, then any animal she'd ever observed, other than summons and the Inuzuka's dogs. That meant it was dangerous.

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan! I've got some cool techniques that'll kill any dumb animal easily."

Hinata flushed. Of course Naruto did. "S-sorry," she said. "This way."

A few minutes later, they were on top of another ridge, staring down at the dozing, brown-scaled reptile. "You weren't kidding," Chouji said. "How does something that big find enough to eat out here?" He sounded vaguely horrified at the concept.

"It doesn't matter," Naruto said firmly as he formed seals. "Fuuton: Gale Palm!"

The raging windstorm slammed into the sleeping sand dragon, hurling it backward into the boulder it was sleeping beneath. It shuddered once, and for just an instant Hinata thought it was dead. Then its eyes opened, and it roared.

It was fast, powerful legs racing up the cliff face toward the ninja in a matter of seconds. Chakra coursed up and down its coils, enhancing its strength. Its fanged maw gaped open, large enough to swallow one of the genin whole.

Naruto jumped back as it crested the ridge, but the reptile lunged forward at him. With no time to think, Hinata acted. "Piercing Heavenly Spin!" she shouted, her body twisting into motion as she hurled herself at the lizard. She was a tornado of chakra when she hit its lower jaw, knocking it off course. It landed with a tremendous thud.

As Hinata spun passed it, the sand dragon's monstrous tail whipped around at her. She saw it coming, but it didn't do her any good. Even with the Heavenly Spin protecting her, the strike packed an enormous punch, enough to make her lose control of the technique. Chakra flew wildly around her before flickering out, and she plummeted toward the rocky ground.

Then Naruto was there, catching her in midair. Dazed and disoriented, she almost didn't have the self-awareness to become embarrassed, but she could feel herself flush as they landed safely away from the dragon. Behind them, Chouji had swelled in size and was wrestling with the monster. Another Naruto darted in, hitting the dragon's flank with a Rasengan without appreciable effect. The sand dragon's tail whipped around again, but that Naruto used the Replacement Technique to escape.

"Are you okay?" the Naruto by Hinata asked.

She nodded weakly, then paled. "Its chakra… it looks like it's going to use a technique!" Was that even possible?

At Hinata's warning, Chouji tried to disengage, but too late. Lightning flickered between the horns on the dragon's head, then erupted into a powerful bolt. Chouji flew backward, shrinking back to normal size.

"Got to go," Naruto told Hinata, leaping away to catch Chouji. Another bolt of lightning caught him in midair, and he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Hinata turned around to face the fight, taking a soldier pill. She winced as Chouji landed heavily, but with her eyes she could see that he was only stunned. Her hands raced through a familiar set of seals. "Shadow Replication Technique," she breathed, and a perfect copy of herself appeared beside her. Ignoring the wave of weakness, both of them charged the monster. "Cover us!" the clone shouted. Hinata hoped Naruto heard

Lightning flickered on the monster's head, and then Naruto appeared out of the earth ahead of Hinata. "Doton: Mud Wall Technique!" he shouted, and a massive slab of earth shoved out of the ground in front of them, catching the bolt of lightning. Instants later, Naruto let the wall fall.

Hinata and her replication didn't even have to slow their charge. The dragon reared up, and the two spun into motion. "Dual Piercing Heavenly Spin!" They slammed into the monster's head from opposite directions. The clone kept going, trying to keep the dragon's attention, as the real Hinata landed on the head, between the two horns.

Electricity flickered around her, but she ignored it, taking a moment to confirm that she'd located the tenketsu correctly before striking once directly between the horns. The lightning bolt died unformed as the flow of chakra abruptly cut off. Hinata's clone disrupted itself, and she jumped off the lizard's head.

Exhaustion ran through her as she landed, the soldier pill already starting to wear off. "Get it now," she croaked out. Roaring, the dragon lunged for her, and she realized she couldn't dodge fast enough.

A recovered Chouji answered with a roar of his own. "Human Bullet Tank!" He slammed into the monster's side, knocking it away from Hinata.

Naruto emerged from the ground again and raced toward them. "Chouji, get its mouth open!" The oversized ninja nodded and wordlessly pried its jaws apart. Naruto darted between his teammate's legs, forming seals. "Fuuton: Gale Palm," he said again, but this time he thrust his open hand into the sand dragon's mouth.

The monster rippled, and Hinata could see the windstorm ripping through the reptile's insides. It shuddered once, then twice, and then finally was still.

Hinata relaxed her eyes and sat down, breathing heavily. An animal that could use its chakra to perform elemental ninjutsu? No wonder the massive reptile had been named after the mythical dragons. Did the Sand really expect more ordinary genin to kill such a beast? She didn't think they could have done it as they'd been when they'd been given the name "Rookie Nine."

Chouji had returned to ordinary size and was rapping the dead dragon's scales with his fist. "I wonder if you could make armor out of this," he wondered out loud.

Naruto had pulled out a kunai and was busy harvesting the fangs - at least forty of them, if Hinata remembered correctly. "We can always skin part of it and take them," he said. "Ero-sennin might know if there's something we can do with it."

"And the horns," Hinata offered quietly. They were clearly capable of channeling lightning-natured chakra. She was no artificer or seal expert, but that would almost certainly be of use in making a weapon of some kind.

Naruto glanced back, as though he had almost forgotten she was there. "Are you okay, Hinata-chan?"

She could feel her cheeks heat. "I… I'm fine, Naruto-kun."

The blond boy smiled, then briefly diverted his attention to pry another fang out of the dragon's mouth. "Ah, I'm sorry about that first attack," he said awkwardly after a moment. "I didn't think this thing would have scales strong enough to survive my wind technique."

"It's fine," Hinata said. Chouji grunted, and wandered away from the dead beast toward where they'd stowed their packs.

"What was that attack you used?" Naruto asked, his momentary guilt clearly vanished at Hinata's reassurance. "It was awesome! Reminded me of Kiba's move!"

"We… worked on it together," Hinata said, he voice squeaking on the last word a little. Surely Naruto wouldn't think that they were… more than teammates, would he?

Chouji walked over to her, carrying his pack. He sat down next to her and opened it, pulling out a ration bar and wordlessly offering it to her. Hinata took it and started to unwrap it. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"You used a soldier pill, right?" Chouji asked. When she nodded, he continued, "Give me your canteen." She handed it over, and Chouji retrieved a small packet from the depths of his pack, ripping it open and dumping the powder inside into Hinata's water. He carefully closed her canteen and shook it to dissolve the powder. "This will help restore your physical energy from the strain of the soldier pill," he explained.

"Thank you," Hinata said again as she took back her canteen, then opened it and took a careful sip. The water tasted slightly sweet - sugar was part of the powder, either to hide the taste of the medicinal ingredients or to help boost her energy levels.

In the end, it took them almost an hour to harvest what they thought would be useful from the sand dragon's corpse. Naruto handed Hinata the largest of the fangs to keep with their half-cylinder, and they prepared to set out toward the center of the training ground in search of other teams. Then Hinata activated her Byakugan to scout the surrounding area and motioned for her teammates to halt.

"You might as well come out now," she said, pointing unerringly at a cluster of boulders behind her and slightly to her right.

A few moments later, three male Sand genin emerged from concealment, arms in the air. "Look, we don't want any trouble," one of them said. He gave the giant corpse a nervous glance, then slowly reached into his pack and pulled out his team's half-cylinder. He carefully placed it on the ground in front of them, then raised his hands again.

"Smart move," Chouji rumbled ominously. "Now get out of our sight."

"Yes, sir!" another of the Sand replied, and they began to back away.

"Wait!" Naruto said suddenly, and he tossed something at them.

One of the Sand caught it reflexively, then stared at the sand dragon fang. "Really?" he asked.

"Really," Chouji said. "Now scram before we change our minds!" The Sand all nodded nervously, and only managed to back away a few steps before their nerve broke and they turned and ran. As soon as they were gone, Chouji laughed. "We didn't even have to actually threaten them this time."

"This time?" Hinata asked.

"Sakura, Ino, and I fought those three a little in the last exams at home," he explained. "They'd heard those stories about Sakura, and well…" He trailed off, shrugging. "The fight went out of them pretty quickly."

"Oh," Hinata said, then she walked up to the half-cylinder the Sand had left behind. After using her Byakugan to double-check for traps, she picked it out and took out their own half-cylinder and the sand dragon tooth Naruto had given her. She quickly assembled the full cylinder around the fang, and watched in fascination as chakra churned inside the object. The word chuunin shone brightly for a moment on the far side of the cylinder, and then it was sealed.

"I guess we're done then," Chouji said.

Naruto grinned. "I guess we go to that tower now," he said. He scratched the back of his head. "Which way was it?"

Hinata pointed, and the three of them set off. The going was still slow, but Hinata's heart was light. Perhaps the second exam going so easily was an omen. She could only hope so. If she could pass this time, the status quo could be preserved a while longer, but if she failed a third time… the consequences hadn't been spelled out, but Hinata was more than capable of seeing the meanings hidden in her father's comments.

They were perhaps halfway to the tower when Hinata's routine check of their surroundings found another team. She started to signal Chouji and Naruto in the custom sign language her Team Eight had developed, then spoke in clipped, rapid tones. "Three ninja, incoming. Waterfall. The younger female has a lot of chakra. Dangerous." The small girl's coils were twisted in a way that she'd never seen before, but reminded her of two other, very different ninja with strange coils. One of those two stood beside her right now.

Naruto and Chouji took up defensive positions, and a few minutes later the three Waterfall came into view. The younger, green-haired girl hung back, and the other girl held out open hands. "We're not looking for trouble," she said, and two empty half-cylinders appeared in her hands, then vanished again. Hinata idly noted the sealing scroll on her hip. A weapons user?

Naruto relaxed. "I think I remember you," he said. "We met in that fort in Waterfall Country?"

"Uzumaki-san, was it?" the lone male Waterfall on the team asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"You were in the finals at Leaf, weren't you?" Chouji asked. He paused a moment, perhaps searching his memory. "Yuhara Maya and Chiba Ikkei." The names rang a faint bell in Hinata's mind, but she couldn't quite recall where she might have met the two before.

"Akimichi Chouji," Ikkei returned. "Who's your other teammate?"

Hinata didn't say anything, all her attention focused on the younger, quiet girl who stood behind her teammates, eyes on the ground. Naruto introduced her, then asked, "What about yours?"

"She's Fuu," Maya said, glancing backwards almost nervously. The younger girl didn't react.

"If you already have both halves of a cylinder, what do you want with us?" Chouji asked.

"You looked like you were heading for the tower," Maya said. "How did you get your fang? We found one, but it was guarded by a couple of Sand jounin, and we didn't think we could get it without killing someone."

That was an interesting statement, and Hinata redoubled her study of Fuu. If she was like Naruto or Gaara…

"We killed a sand dragon," Naruto said simply. He dug around in his pockets. "You want one of our teeth?" he asked.

Maya blinked. "Huh?"

Ikkei laughed. "I guess we can't say no to that." Naruto tossed him a fang, and he handed it to Maya, who assembled the cylinder. This time Hinata didn't spare any attention to watching the seals on it activate.

"I guess we can travel together?" Maya asked.

"Sure," Naruto said cheerfully, and started walking toward the tower again. Hinata forced herself to relax her eyes, and the six ninja headed on their way. There were a few attempts at conversation, mostly originating from Naruto, but no one else seemed in the mood to talk. Hinata carefully kept an eye on Fuu, but the young girl just stayed silent, keeping her teammates between herself and the Leaf ninja. Even Naruto only tried to talk with her once.

When they reached the tower, two proctors were waiting outside the gates and demanded to see their cylinders. They seemed surprised when Hinata and Maya produced them, and more surprised when whatever checking they did for fakes found nothing wrong.

"Congratulations," Reki of the White Stone said as he appeared from inside the tower. "I wasn't expecting anyone to show up this soon," he said, actually not sounding bored for once, as he gestured for them to follow him inside.

It was only five hours after the second exam had started.

* * *

><p>Fuuma Sasame let out a nervous gulp. The ten teams who had successfully completed the second exam were lined up before the examiners in a small arena that lay just outside the training ground where the second exam had taken place. Bleachers were set up along one side of the arena, and in them were sitting men and women who she guessed were the jounin teachers of all the passing teams. She located her own teacher, her cousin Kotohime, out of the corner of her eye. Sasame had a bad feeling that passing the first two exams might have been the easy part.<p>

"Don't be so nervous, Sasame-chan," Karin said from behind her. "We'll be fine."

Sasame glanced backward and forced a weak smile. "I'm sure," she agreed, but she knew she didn't sound certain. They'd only barely passed the exam. She suspected they'd only succeeded because the Sand jounin guarding one of the sand dragon fangs had taken pity on them. After a day of staking them out, one had commented loudly that he doubted any of the genin were smart enough to figure out how to activate the cylinders without a fang. That had been all the clue Karin had needed, and after a hour of playing with the half-cylinders she had successfully merged them. They'd arrived at the tower with minutes to spare.

"All right," Reki of White Stone said quietly, but this was enough to bring all the murmured conversations among the genin to a halt. "The second exam of these Chuunin Selection Exams has been completed. I'm done." He stepped backward.

The first examiner pushed him forward. "You've got to say more than that," Shirou said.

Reki stepped backward again. "No, I don't."

An unfamiliar woman with purple stripes tattooed on her face stepped forward. "You two incompetents just shut up," she said. "I am Maki of the Wolf. I am the third and final examiner, and you are all now under my authority." She turned to an older ninja who stood behind the three examiners. "Ebizou-sama will now explain the purpose of the third exam."

Sasame listened attentively as Ebizou discussed the history of the exam system - except for the single exam the Sound had participated in at Leaf, the ninja of the Rice Field Country had never been part of the exam system of any of the great powers. There was a lot of uncomfortable shifting among the genin, and Sasame guessed that most of them had heard a version of this speech before.

When Ebizou was done, Maki spoke again. "Unfortunately," she said, "someone managed to actually kill a sand dragon, and then sent out his replications to hand out fangs like candy so almost no one needed to figure out one of the ways to get one or the other methods to pass, and a record number of teams have completed the second exam."

There was an awkward, familiar laugh from several teams over. "Ah, no one said not to," Uzumaki Naruto said loudly. Sasame stifled a chuckle. For someone who had such a large impact on her, she couldn't say she knew Naruto well, but somehow she wasn't surprised he was responsible.

"It looks like we wasted a lot of effort," Sasame's male teammate, Juichiro, said.

"Because we don't want to waste anyone's time at the finals," Maki said, "we will now begin a preliminary round to thin out the numbers." She smiled, baring her teeth. "Half of you will fail here and have no chance to become a chuunin."

Sasame's heart sank. They had to win here then. The other team from Music hadn't made it past the first exam, and it would be a great victory for the new village to be able to display its strength in the finals. "Don't worry," Juichiro said, "we won't let Guren-sama down."

"Or she'll kill us," Karin finished cheerfully, and Sasame couldn't help but smile. She hadn't liked the other girl when they'd first teamed up, and had almost started to hate her when she'd learned that she had worked with her cousin Arashi under Orochimaru. Now, though, after months of working together, she thought she could call the spectacled girl a friend.

"So what are we to do, then?" a short girl in a white kimono standing next to Sasame asked, her hand on the hilt of a katana sheathed at her hip. Sasame glanced at her forehead protector, worn on her sleeve, but didn't recognize the symbol. Sasame had heard there were ninja from the distant Snow Country attending, was this girl one of them?

"There will be a series of elimination matches," Maki said. A chuunin proctor removed a cloth covering a large wooden drum on a stand next to the bleachers. Maki walked over and grasped a metal handle on one side of the drum. "Teams will be randomly selected and face each other in combat. Only three from each match will advance to the finals.

"These will be the rules of engagement. You will fight until you choose to yield or are ruled unable to fight by me. When a fighter has been ruled as defeated, they are out of the match. Attempting to interfere after defeat will result in your team being disqualified. Attempting to further attack a defeated opponent will result in your team being disqualified. Endangering anyone outside the match will result in your team being disqualified. Pissing me off will result in your team being disqualified." Maki's eyes traveled down the lines of genin. "That means you, Uzumaki."

The blond boy gave another laugh. "Understood."

Maki started to rotate the drum with the handle, and after a few moments a wooden rectangle fell out of a small opening. The chuunin proctor took it and examined the writing on one side. "From the Hidden Music: Fuuma Sasame, Zaku Juichiro, Karin." Sasame flinched. There would be absolutely no time for them to rest, then.

The drum made a few more rotations, and another wooden plaque fell out. "From the Hidden Leaf," the proctor announced. "Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto." What were the odds that they would have to fight one of the few people at the exam Sasame knew?

"Everyone else go sit down," Maki commanded. "S… Music, over there," she said, pointing at one end of the arena. Sasame grimaced at the woman's slip of the tongue. The examiner pointed at the other end of the arena. "Leaf, over there."

A few minutes later, the other teams had joined their teachers in the stands, and Sasame's team faced Naruto's across the arena. Maki stood in between them, her attention moving between one team and the other. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Naruto cracked his knuckles. "Let's have a nice fun match," he said.

Sasame smiled faintly. "Let's," she agreed. She wanted to show the boy how far she'd come since their brief acquaintance a year ago.

Karin clapped her on the back. "Aw, are you soft on cool chakra guy?" she asked. "Where's that remorseless killer I know and love?"

"We're not going to kill anyone here," Sasame reminded her teammate.

Maki was apparently satisfied, and brought her arm down in a quick chop. "Begin!" she proclaimed, and she vanished in a swirl of sand to reappear on the edge of the arena.

Juichiro partially unrolled the scroll he kept strapped to one leg, summoning his weapon, a metal guitar. "Keep me covered to set this up," he promised, strumming the strings, "and I'll end this fast."

Senbon filled Karin's hands. "No problem," she said.

Sasame let a kunai fall out of her sleeve into her right hand. "Let's go," she said, and the two Music kunoichi charged their opponents.

The stocky boy on Naruto's team - Chouji - inhaled deeply as he formed seals. "Katon: Fireball Technique!" He breathed out a massive ball of flame.

Karin broke to their left, and Sasame to their right to avoid the fireball. As she rolled away from a second blast of fire, Sasame loosed her kunai at the silver-eyed girl. Hinata smacked it out of the air, then caught the second kunai hidden in the first's shadow. She sent it back at Sasame, who dodged.

Karin hurled her senbon at all three opponents, but Sasame didn't notice any hits, and none of them toppled over, paralyzed.

Naruto formed seals. "Shadow Replication Technique," he proclaimed, and suddenly there was a dozen of him. Half of those charged directly for Juichiro in the back. Sasame jumped into air and dove at them, a kunai in each hand. She disrupted two clones with a swipe of each weapon as she landed in a roll. Karin would probably be starting her genjutsu about now.

There. Karin began to sing wordlessly, and Sasame started to join in harmony when Karin's voice suddenly fell silent, and the gathering illusion shattered. The examiner proclaimed, "Karin of the Hidden Music, eliminated." Shocked, Sasame looked back for her teammate, and found that Chouji had swelled to enormous size and pinned Karin to the ground with one massive hand. How had he gotten to her so fast?

Suddenly Sasame felt hands around her ankles. "Sorry, Sasame-chan," one of the Naruto surrounding her said, and she was pulled into the earth up to her shoulders. Another Naruto placed a kunai at her throat.

"Fuuma Sasame of the Hidden Music, eliminated." Sasame flushed, embarrassed by her novice mistake.

Behind her, Juichiro played a loud chord, and she knew that they had at least given their teammate the time to finish his technique. "Raiton," he announced, "Electric Guitar." He strummed the strings once more, and lightning danced around Sasame, striking out of the clear sky to disrupt all of the clones surrounding her. Sasame opened her mouth to warn him that the real Naruto was underground and probably heading for him, but then remembered that her interfering now would disqualify their team.

Juichiro continued to play, and lightning kept dancing across the arena. Hinata spun in place, forming a shield of chakra to protect her, but Chouji had no such defense. A bolt of lightning struck the oversized ninja, but he still stood. Then there was the sound of fighting behind Sasame, and it was over.

"Zaku Juichiro of the Hidden Music, eliminated," Maki said. "Winners: Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uzumaki Naruto of the Hidden Leaf."

A Naruto wandered into Sasame's view and offered her a hand. She accepted it, and he hauled her out of the ground like it was water. She stood on unsteady feet. Naruto smiled, and she looked away. She was still so weak.

"If we hadn't gotten the other girl before the song started," Naruto observed, "I bet that would have been bad." Sasame shrugged awkwardly. "Don't worry about it," Naruto said. "Hinata-chan and Chouji failed in the preliminaries their first time through too."

"And you?" Sasame asked weakly.

"Eh, I won." Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed. "With a fart."

Sasame blinked, but she couldn't help but join in his laughter.

* * *

><p>"Good job, you three," Yuuhi Kurenai told her temporary team as they joined her in the stands. Down below in the arena, the two Sand teams that had drawn the next fight were waiting for the signal to start. Naruto thought that he recognized one of the teams as the team that had given up their half-cylinder to his team without a fight. Facing them was a trio of younger ninja, possibly rookies. Naruto couldn't remember whether one of his clones had given them a tooth or not.<p>

Seated a few feet away from the female jounin was Jiraiya. "What are you doing here, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked as he plopped himself down next to his teacher.

"Keeping an eye on you, brat," Jiraiya said. "Sounds like you broke their exam." He ruffled Naruto's hair fondly, drawing a protest from the boy.

Once he had wrestled Jiraiya's hand away from his head, Naruto glanced down at the fight that had just begun. It didn't look like it was going to last much longer. One of the genin he had met during the exam was trying some sort of attack with metal chains, but a fan user on the younger team kept battering them with wind attacks, driving them across the arena.

"So what are you going to train me in for the finals?" Naruto asked Jiraiya.

"Hmm," Jiraiya said. "I was thinking of taking a break to do some research."

"Ero-sennin!"

"If that research is what I think it is," Kurenai said, "I'll make sure Sakura-chan tells Hokage-sama." Hinata, who Naruto suddenly realized had seated herself between him and Kurenai, looked puzzled for a moment before turning bright red. Chouji, sitting on Kurenai's other side, just snorted.

Jiraiya laughed. "I'm already in enough trouble," he said lightly. "I guess we'll wait to see who you're fighting to decide what I'll teach you, Naruto." He smirked. "You shouldn't need any more training to wipe the floor with whatever poor genin gets matched with you, though."

"Winners: Kashike, Tomari of the Sandy Hills, and Yahiko of the White Stone, from the Hidden Sand," Maki proclaimed from the arena floor. A pair of medics were attending one of the members of the losing team, but he was able to stand on his own after a few minutes.

The chuunin proctor had already drawn two more plaques from the wooden drum, and handed them to Maki as the last fighters made their way out of the arena. "From the Hidden Sand: Ittetsu of the East Wind, Matsuri of the Bleeding Crow, Nejiri of the Stony Waste. From the Hidden Rock: Akiyama Mako, Matsuoka Gonkuro, Yamakita Akira."

"Hojo's kids?" Jiraiya commented. "This should be a little more entertaining at least."

"The Rock genin are the Tsuchikage's students?" Kurenai asked.

"They were when we were up there last year," Jiraiya said.

"How'd you meet the Tsuchikage's students?" Chouji asked Naruto.

"Eh," Naruto said, "Ero-sennin had Hojo-sensei give me some training in earth techniques. He wasn't Tsuchikage yet then."

"I won't ask how you managed that," Kurenai told Jiraiya. There was something funny in her voice, but Naruto couldn't figure out what it was. It probably wasn't important.

The match began with Akira charging headlong at the Sand team. Jiraiya chuckled, and Naruto glared at his teacher. "I'm not that stupid," he complained. "That would be a shadow replication if it was me."

"Just watch," Jiraiya said.

One of the two male Sand moved to intercept, forming seals. "Fuuton: Storm Wall!" He thrust both hands forward, a wave of wind kicking up sand as it streamed toward Akira, blowing him backward. Then his form dissolved into a pile of dirt.

"Earth Replication," Kurenai commented.

Mako, who had been advancing behind Akira's replication, attacked. "Katon: Flame Dagger Technique!" Three tiny bolts of fire flung from one of her hands. When the firebolts hit the Sand genin's wall of wind, they exploded into a sudden, chaotic firestorm. The wild fire extended across the center of the arena, blocking the two teams from each other.

An instant later, Akira erupted from the earth underneath the Sand genin who had summoned the wind, uppercutting him on the chin with a fist that looked metallic. The Sand landed heavily and did not rise. Almost instantly, the firestorm started to fade as the winds that fed it died.

"Ittetsu of the East Wind, eliminated," the examiner announced.

The female Sand genin - Matsuri, Naruto guessed - didn't hesitate, throwing a strange weapon that seemed to consist of hooked dart on the end of a metal-braided rope at Akira. The Rock boy dodged, but Matsuri's weapon changed directions in midair, wrapping itself around him. Matsuri formed a seal with one hand, but Mako hurled more fire bolts at her. The Sand kunoichi rolled out of the way, breaking her seal but keeping hold of her weapon. This gave Akira time to melt back into the ground, leaving Matsuri's rope in coils on the sandy arena floor. With a snarl she pulled the weapon back to her, the rope vanishing up her sleeve.

"We need to take the offensive," the other Sand - Nejiri - shouted, and the two of them charged Mako.

In the rear of the arena, Gonkuro was ready for them, both hands pressed on the ground. "Doton: Striking Hand Technique!" Fists of sand and dirt erupted out of the ground in front of the two Sand ninja.

Matsuri's weapon flew out again, striking the hand in front of her twice before retracting. Naruto's eyes narrowed. What had she just done? An instant later he got his answer. The two explosive tags detonated and shattering the fist before it could hit her. Her teammate wasn't as lucky, failing to dodge and taking a heavy blow.

"Nejiri of the Stony Waste, eliminated." Maki sounded annoyed.

The last Sand standing jumped into the air instants before Akira struck again, dodging his uppercut. She tossed her weapon at him in midair, but Akira batted it aside with his metallic hand. The rope snaked around, and suddenly the metal hook flew at Gonkuro with surprising speed. He tried to dodge, but hook struck his shoulder, digging into his flesh.

Matsuri formed her one-handed seal again as she landed. "Raiton: Electric Cord Technique." Lighting crackled up and down the rope and Gonkuro screamed once before falling over.

"Matsuoka Gonkuro of the Hidden Rock, eliminated," the examiner proclaimed. "Winners -" She cut off as Akira moved to attack Matsuri from behind and appeared between them, catching Akira's metal fist in one hand.

"What the hell?" Akira asked, chakra shining around his arm for a moment before it became ordinary flesh.

"Three fighters were eliminated," the examiner explained. "The match is ended. Winners are Matsuri of the Bleeding Crow from the Hidden Sand, and Akiyama Mako and Yamakita Akira from the Hidden Rock."

"Advancement isn't by team?" Hinata asked quietly. There were similar expressions of confusion from the other genin in the stands.

"She never said it was," Jiraiya said amusedly, "just that three fighters would be eliminated from each match."

A short while later, the next team to fight was drawn. "From the Hidden Leaf: Inuzuka Shinta, Mitokado Fuki, Uzuki Ami," the examiner proclaimed as she read the first wooden plaque. Then Maki accepted the second from her chuunin assistant. "From the Hidden Leaf: Hijiri Eiji, Namiashi Honzo, Toriichi Kasumi."

Naruto grimaced as the second team was named, glancing down the stands at them. One of his clones had found them this morning and given them the tooth they'd needed, but they'd been badly beat up. The Sand medics didn't think any of them were in serious danger, but Honzo was still out of it in the infirmary, and neither of the other two were in fighting shape at the moment.

The purple-haired woman sitting by Eiji and Kasumi who Naruto supposed must be their teacher stood. "Maki-san, my team chooses to forfeit the match."

"Understood, Uzuki-san," the examiner replied. "Inuzuka Shinta, Mitokado Fuki, and Uzuki Ami will advance to the finals." She paused. "I guess there's no need to draw the final two teams. From the Hidden Waterfall: Chiba Ikkei, Fuu, Yuhara Maya. From the Snow Country: Kakyuyoku Ryouta, Kitakami Rui, Rouga Katsu."

Jiraiya snorted. "I can't believe they're pretending Rui-chan is a genin," he said. "Even with what happened to her." Naruto blinked. Had something happened to Rui?

"Um."

Naruto turned to Hinata. "What is it, Hinata-chan?"

"Y-you and Jiraiya-sama… should pay attention to this fight," Hinata said. "To the younger girl, Fuu."

Naruto blinked. "Why?" He'd tried to talk with Fuu a little, but she'd been anti-social, and had spent the past five days secluded in the Waterfall team's private quarters in the tower.

"I… ah…" Hinata played nervously with her hands.

Kurenai laid a hand on her student's shoulder. "What is it, Hinata?"

"I… think Fuu-san might be…" Hinata trailed off again, glancing over Naruto's shoulder at Jiraiya and then back at Naruto. "Maybe I shouldn't say that here."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya blinked once. "I think I understand, Hinata-chan. I assume her chakra coils are distorted in your eyes? Similar to a certain other ninja of our mutual acquaintance?"

"Huh?" Naruto said again when Hinata nodded. What was… "Oh." Naruto swallowed once as he finally guessed what Hinata was hinting at. "Oh."

The last two teams had arrived on the arena floor. Maya unrolled a scroll at her hip and summoned a naginata. "Stay back and out of the fight, Fuu," she ordered the younger Waterfall kunoichi. "You won't be needed."

"Understood, Yuhara-sama," the green-haired girl replied, taking a deliberate step back.

"Hey, hey," an older-looking, heavyset man on the Snow team said. "Don't be so arrogant."

"Don't worry about it, Katsu," the other man, a short blond - presumably Ryouta, said. "If they want to give us an advantage, we'll take it." Rui just drew her katana from its sheath, taking up a two-handed sword stance.

"Begin!" Maki shouted.

Before the word had faded, Maya brought down her polearm. "The Third Stance: Calling The Wind!" A blast of wind blew at Ryouta, who used the Replacement Technique to dodge. The small boulder he left behind was hurled out of the arena.

Katsu thrust one arm out, revealing a mechanical senbon launcher and launching its payload at Ikkei. The Waterfall boy just smiled, and the needles passed through him. Fuu ignored the weapons as they flew by her.

Hinata activated her eyes. "Genjutsu?" she asked,

"No," Chouji answered. "He has a Bloodline Limit that lets him transform himself into water." As though he had heard Chouji, Ikkei melted into a puddle that was quickly absorbed by the thirsty ground.

Maya struck again, swinging her naginata at the air. "Calling the Wind," she repeated.

This time Rui stepped forward, cutting the air with her own weapon. "Fuuton: Wind Strike!" The two wind attacks canceled each other out, but a slight breeze stirred Maya's ponytail.

"Not bad," the Waterfall girl said with a grin.

Ryouta circled around to try to attack Maya from another angle, forming seals. "Hyouton: Snow Storm Swallow!" he announced.

Jiraiya shook his head. "It isn't going to work in this environment," he said, half-groaning. "Idiot kid."

Slowly, painstakingly, a bird of ice started to take shape in the air in front of Ryouta. Before it could finish, a pillar of water erupted out of the ground behind him. Tendrils of water whipped at him, knocking him to the ground. In a burst of speed, Maya reached him, placing her polearm at his neck. Maki announced Ryouta's elimination a second later.

Still in liquid form, Ikkei became a wave to crash down on Rui. The Snow kunoichi shifted her sword to one hand, rapidly forming seals with the other. "Fuuton: Winter's Grasp!" she shouted, clenching her free hand into a fist. In an instant, Ikkei froze, wave of water turning into a still wall of ice.

"Ikkei?" Maya asked, sounding worried.

Rui's remaining teammate landed on top of Ikkei's frozen form, touching one hand to the ice. "Hyouton: Icebreaker Technique," Katsu proclaimed, and Ikkei shattered.

"I have absolutely no idea whether he's eliminated," Maki announced sourly.

"Hinata?" Kurenai asked, half-standing.

"He's alive, I think," Hinata answered. "His chakra is still there, but I think it'll take him a while to get back together."

There was a low growl, and surprised, Naruto looked down at Fuu. "You hurt Chiba-sama," the young girl said. "Die." A wave of killing intent swept the arena. Beside Naruto, Hinata paled.

Fuu moved, and was suddenly in front of Katsu. Naruto thought he caught a flicker of orange light, and then Fuu's arm was shoved through the Snow ninja's guts and out his back. A wet gurgle escaped Katsu's throat as the young girl withdrew her hand, and he collapsed.

Everyone was still for a moment. Then Rui took a nervous step backward, sword raised in a shaky guard position. Fuu slowly turned to her, and Naruto realized that the young girl's orange eyes were glowing. The killing intent hadn't let up one bit.

Maya jumped over her teammate's head, landing between Fuu and Rui. She pointed her naginata at Fuu. "Fuu," she said. "Stop. That's an order. Ikkei will be fine." Fuu took a step forward. "Stand down!" Maya ordered again, her voice almost cracking.

There was a puff of smoke, and man with a Waterfall forehead protector appeared next to her. "Fuu," he said warningly. After a tense moment, Fuu's killing intent vanished, and she lowered her head.

Sand medics swarmed the arena floor, racing for Katsu's still form. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. "He's alive," she said quietly.

Unnoticed by anyone, the shards of ice left of Ikkei had already melted into a puddle. It slowly formed into human shape and solidified. "That was a trip," Ikkei said. "Did I miss… oh, crap."

"All right," Maki said loudly. "Advancing to the next round: Fuu and Yuhara Maya from the Hidden Waterfall. Kitakami Rui from the Snow Country." The medics finished loading Katsu on a stretcher and started heading to the tower. Ryouta and Rui made to follow, but Maki snagged Rui's shoulder with one hand. "We need you a moment longer," she said, not unkindly. "Winners," she shouted, "get down here! We need to draw your opponents for the next round!"

A few minutes later Naruto was down on the arena floor once more, standing in a line with the other genin, next to Chouji and Hinata. He noticed Fuu the far end, staring at her still-bloody hand. Naruto winced. Was he imagining that the little girl looked remorseful? He resolved to find a way to have a talk with her. If she was really like Gaara and him… well, he could have used someone like him to talk to.

A chuunin proctor was walking down the line of genin with a wooden box, and when he stood in front of Naruto reached into it and pulled out a slip of paper labeled "Fifteen." The proctor moved on, and a few moments later Maki stood in front of the genin with a clipboard.

"Call out your numbers in order," Maki commanded.

There was silence for a long moment, and then Fuu whispered, "One." Maki made a mark on her clipboard.

The roll call proceeded quickly, and Naruto called out, "Fifteen," moments after Hinata revealed her number was fourteen.

"All right then," Maki said. "The preliminary round of the third exam is now completed. The third exam proper will commence in thirty days. These are your opponents." She flipped the clipboard around.

Naruto started to search for his own name. Then Hinata let out a quiet whimper and collapsed. Instantly Naruto was kneeling over her. "Are you okay, Hinata-chan?" he asked. "What's wrong?" Why would she just suddenly faint like that? He managed to shake Hinata awake. "What's wrong?" he repeated.

"Look at the bracket," Chouji answered him, pointing.

Naruto looked up and found his name on the far right, directly next to Hinata's. "Oh," he said. Why would that make her faint, though? He smiled down at her. "Let's have a fun match," he said.

She whimpered and fainted again. Naruto blinked. There was just something weird about Hinata sometimes, and he didn't mean her eyes.

* * *

><p>Sakura ultimately decided to go watch the two apprentice sand priests' demonstration for the Sand's academy students. She told herself that it was intellectual curiosity, but she knew that her real reason was that it was an excuse to get out of the guest house. Asuma, nervous with all the other Leaf ninja away attending the second exam until tomorrow, had vetoed any purposeless excursions. Sakura had needed to use Jiraiya's request for them to keep an eye on Aya and Hiroto to convince Asuma to allow this one, but now she was sitting on the sidelines of a sandy training ground, enjoying the fresh air.<p>

It hadn't been that impressive a show, really, though the academy students seemed entertained. Aya and Hiroto had demonstrated their ability to manipulate sand, and were currently engaged in mock spar that was too obviously choreographed to be interesting, even if Sakura hadn't heard them arguing over who would 'win' last night.

So instead of watching them, Sakura studied the other non-student spectators. She recognized a few members of the Sand's council - Yuura was present, since he seemed to have taken the two nomads under his wing, and a couple of the older members of the council were with him. None of the three faction leaders were attending, which wasn't surprising as they probably had more important things to do with their time. Temari was standing a dozen of so paces to Sakura's left, looking incredibly bored. Given that she was used to watching Gaara, that wasn't a terribly unexpected reaction.

Her other brother, Kankuro, was seated beside her, and wasn't maintaining any pretense of watching the show, instead tinkering with the insides of a small puppet. Past him was… Sakura elbowed Asuma, who was seated on her right, contentedly enjoying a smoke.

"What is it, Sakura?" the jounin asked.

"To our left, past Temari-san and her brother," Sakura whispered. "Shouldn't she be with her team at the exam?"

Asuma turned to look over Sakura, and grimaced when he saw the Rock jounin Kurotsuchi. "Well," he said after a moment, "that could be good news or bad news."

Sakura thought about that for a moment. "It could mean that her mission here is in such trouble that she can't afford to take time to attend the exam," she concluded, "or that it is going so well that she doesn't want to lose momentum."

"Pretty much," Asuma asked. "Either way, we can't do much about it without risking playing into the Rock's hands."

Sakura nodded, and tried to return her attention to the show, which seemed to be coming to a close. Aya and Hiroto simultaneously struck 'killing' blows on the other, then bowed to each other to end the match. Sakura hadn't thought they'd actually use that suggestion when she'd thrown it out to try and stop their argument, and they'd certainly kept bickering until she'd gone to bed.

One of the Sand academy teachers thanked the two nomads for their demonstration while the others busied themselves lining up the students to head back to class. The rest of the spectators started to disperse on their own. Sakura decided that it would be appropriate for her to compliment Aya and Hiroto on their performance, so she stood and walked over to where the two stood, Asuma as ever trailing behind her.

Hiroto was waving his arm in the air excitedly, apparently upset over something Aya had done or not done during their demonstration, when Sakura reached them. "Impressive show," Sakura lied.

"Thank you, Sakura-san," Aya returned.

Hiroto opened his mouth, but before he could say anything there was a swirl of sand beside Sakura. She tensed, but didn't let her fear show as Gaara of the Desert emerged from the whirlwind. The sand fell back to the ground as Gaara studied the nomads with dispassionate eyes. "Hiroto of the Howling Moon," he said.

The boy swallowed. "Yes." Asuma drew closer to Sakura.

"Yuura-sama told me that you wished to meet with me," Gaara stated. "Why?"

"Your sand techniques," Hiroto said, his voice a little nervous at first, but gaining strength as he continued, "I'm told they are very powerful. I would like to see them."

Gaara didn't blink, and his face didn't shift expressions at all, but Sakura thought he somehow looked surprised. "No," he said, turning to leave.

"Hey!" Hiroto protested. "Why not?"

"Hiroto-san," Sakura murmured, "let it be. Please." The last thing she needed was for Gaara to decide to give a demonstration of his techniques. That was likely to end… poorly.

Gaara glanced back at them, grunted, and took another step away. Aya frowned. "That gourd on his back is sand," she said distractedly, as though not aware she spoke aloud. "But it feels weird." Gaara stopped moving.

Hiroto blinked. "You're right." His eyes narrowed.

"Hiroto-san, whatever you're doing," Sakura began, but it was too late. The cork on the top of the gourd popped open, falling to the ground with a loud thud. Sand started to creep out of the opening.

Gaara whirled around. "Stop. Now," he commanded.

"Hiroto," Asuma said seriously. "Aya. Do as he says." Some of the Sand ninja on the training ground floor had noticed the confrontation and were backing away rapidly.

The female nomad backed away herself, but Hiroto just stared at the tendril of sand, seemingly entranced. Sakura tried to think of what she could do, but there way no time. The tendril became a torrent of sand, flying at Hiroto with deadly force. As it hit, sand flew everywhere, and Sakura raised one arm to protect her eyes, using the Replacement Technique to gain distance from Gaara.

When the sand settled, Hiroto had fallen over backwards, but was unhurt. Aya stood protectively over him, both hands outstretched and breathing heavily. Gaara's eyes narrowed, and more sand poured from his gourd, flowing around him. "Run," he warned.

Asuma stepped between him and the nomads, one of his knives in his hand. "Don't be foolish, boy." Sakura fumbled for a kunai herself, sparing a glance around. The spectators were panicking, stumbling over themselves to flee. No one seemed to be coming to stop Gaara.

Gaara grimaced. "Don't," he said, but even before the sound of the word faded the sand under Asuma's feet boiled upward. The jounin was in the air in an instant, flying at Gaara. A shield of sand intercepted him, but then Asuma was behind the boy, so fast Sakura barely saw him move. More sand blocked the second attack, then suddenly grew in volume, engulfing Asuma. A puff of smoke escaped from the cocoon.

"Shadow Replication?" Sakura asked. Where was the real Asuma then? There was no time to wonder, though, as Gaara's sand hungrily streamed toward Aya and Hiroto. Sakura moved without thinking, hurling kunai with powerful explosive tags dangling from the hilts. The gathering sand shattered, flying in all directions as the tags detonated. "Get out of here!" she shouted at the two nomads. Damn it, what were the Sand doing? This was their village and their ninja, it should be their responsibility to stop him from going crazy and killing someone!

As the sand priests fled, Sakura returned her attention to Gaara. The boy was almost doubled over, hand covering one eye. "That's enough, Mother," he said to himself, seemingly not even noticing Sakura's intervention. "You scared them off. Go back to sleep." The sand floating through the air wavered, almost falling back to the ground. Sakura started to back away, hoping to get out of here before Gaara noticed her. "No!" Gaara snapped suddenly as the sand raced into motion again, flying at Sakura.

A lance of rock flew through the air, splitting the oncoming sand, then detonated. "Doton: Shattering Rock Spear," Kurotsuchi remarked as she landed lightly beside Sakura. "This looks like a fun fight," she said. "I hope you don't mind my joining in. Maybe if both the Leaf and the Rock ambassadors are involved these Sand cowards will get their act together and do something."

"Thanks," Sakura said weakly, and then the sand was flowing back together, building into a massive wave.

"Idiots," Gaara snarled. The sand hung still, looming over the two kunoichi.

"So," the Rock jounin said. "They say you've beaten him before. What's the trick?"

Sakura grimaced. Damn it. "There were… circumstances. That can't be replicated here." Like having Naruto around, specifically.

"Well, crap." Kurotsuchi frowned herself. "Guess we'll have to improvise, then." The wave of sand started to descend.

"Great Cutting Whirlwind!" Blades of wind sliced through the sand breaking it up and diverting it from its target. "Idiots," Temari growled as she landed beside the two foreign ninja. "Come on, stop provoking him. We've got to get out of here before he totally loses control."

"And what will he do then, hmm?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Probably go after those idiot nomads," Temari said. "Unless you two have already pissed him off enough that he'll go after you instead."

"That's not a great bet," Kurotsuchi replied.

"Sister," Gaara said, his voice breaking. "Run." Sakura realized that one of his eyes had turned monstrous and yellow, and she swallowed nervously. That was probably bad.

"Shit," Temari breathed. "If it's this out of control… I'm going to kill those nomad brats."

Another wave of sand descended, and the rock jounin pressed one hand to the ground. A half-dome of rock sprung up, shielding the trio of kunoichi. "Let's focus on not dying ourselves first," Kurotsuchi replied, the dome of rock expanding to surround them

"Right," Temari said. "Look, whatever you do, we can't knock him out. If Gaara loses consciousness we're all dead."

"Great," Sakura muttered, not even bothering to wonder at the oddity of that. "Paralytic poison?" she asked more loudly. A loud thud made the rock walls enclosing them vibrate, and Kurotsuchi winced, pressing her other hand to the ground.

"Won't do any good," Temari said. "The sand's the problem, not his body."

"Chakra disruptor, then," Sakura replied, searching her pack for the right vial. She hadn't thought to prepare poison weapons this morning. The poison was a mild sedative, too. Not enough to put Gaara to sleep, but maybe enough to calm him down some.

"Maybe," Temari said dubiously. "I guess it's worth a shot. How are you going to deliver it?"

There was another thud. "I'm not going to be able to hold this much longer," Kurotsuchi warned.

Sakura took a deep breath as she finished readying three kunai and resheathed them. She wasn't Lee, but she had trained with him and Gai. She could move fast if she had to, and unlike Lee she had backup in this fight. "Cover me, distract the sand shield," she said. "I might be able to get in one strike."

A hole opened in the back of the rock dome. "Out the rear, now!" Kurotsuchi ordered, and the other two obeyed without questioning. The dome collapsed under the weight of another sand attack as they escaped, and when the dust settled there was no sign of Kurotsuchi.

Uniformed Sand ninja had surrounded the training ground, but they looked disinclined to intervene so long as Gaara's attention was focused elsewhere. The boy's face was twisted into a grimace. His inhuman eye stared balefully at Sakura and his sister, but his other was closed as if in concentration. Jerkily he held out one hand, and sand began to gather around the pair.

"Try not to die," Temari advised as she readied her fan. "I'll keep his attention on his front. Go!" Sakura broke away as Temari shouted, "Great Cutting Whirlwind!"

This wasn't the time to try and save stamina, and Sakura channeled chakra to increase her speed, looking to circle around behind Gaara. There was a roar of wind as Temari attacked again, and sand spun around Gaara, forming a solid barrier. Now! A poisoned blade in hand, Sakura pushed her already aching muscles past their limit, becoming a blur of motion darting toward Gaara. Sand raced to block her, but too slowly, and she thrust her kunai into the boy's side.

The tip of the kunai bent and broke, and then sand slammed into Sakura, sending her flying. More sand began to wrap around her. "No!" Gaara shouted, and the sand dissolved away. Sakura landed heavily, and her head swam. Why hadn't… damn it, she should have remembered. The sand shield wasn't Gaara's only defense. There was a second layer, an armor of sand. She'd need something more powerful than an ordinary kunai to penetrate that.

She would need to be able to move first, though. Sakura was pretty sure that strike had broken something and could almost hear her teacher's chiding voice. "The medical ninja should never be hit by the enemy's attacks."

"I never… said I wanted to be a medical ninja, Shishou," Sakura muttered to herself. There were shouts all around her as the gathering Sand finally joined the fight, but Sakura didn't pay attention. She formed seals, then pressed one hand to her wounded side. Green chakra flared as she numbed the pain, the limit of what she could do for broken ribs.

Sand flew around the training ground, blocking dozens of attacks from all directions. "Don't fight me!" Gaara roared. "You'll all die!"

Temari suddenly screamed, and Sakura looked up to see the other girl seized around her neck by a hand of sand. Her fan lay uselessly on the ground next to her. One of Gaara's hands twitched, and for a moment all the sand stilled. Was he actually fighting to stop the sand? Then… they weren't really fighting Gaara at all, really, but the demon inside of him. Would her poison… no, Temari had thought it was worth trying.

Kurotsuchi slipped out of the earth beside Sakura. "You look like you have a plan," she said.

Sakura nodded weakly. "Same as before," she said. "Can you cover me? I'm… not going to be as fast."

Kurotsuchi nodded, hands racing through seals. The ground in front of her began to liquify. "Doton: Earth Dragon Barrage." A draconic head began to form, rising from the earth.

Gaara's… or the demon's attention was still on Temari, and Sakura didn't have to push herself as she moved into position. Kurotsuchi's dragon head roared, and mud bullets began to pour out from its jaws, flying at Gaara. He spun about, the sand hand dropping Temari as sand raced to shield him. A Sand ninja risked a strike from behind with a lightning technique, but more sand rose out of the ground to shield the boy and counterattack.

Sakura formed seals. "Fire Dragon Fist," she breathed, naming the family style Anko had taught her. Her hands separated, wreathed in flame. She couldn't keep this going for long. She'd have to end this with one strike. She took a deep breath, wincing at the pain she felt even through her numbing technique. Now or never.

Kurotsuchi kept up her attack, and Sakura charged. Sand flew at her, striking at her injured side. There was a brief shimmer as her illusion faltered, and the real Sakura appeared a foot to the right and several steps ahead of where her image had been. Sand moved to stop her, and she struck out with one hand. "Katon: Claw of the Fire Dragon!" Talons of fire leapt from the aura of fire around her fists, cutting through the sand and almost reaching Gaara himself. The boy turned to her, yellow eye glaring. Sakura jumped through the reforming sand, retracting her technique. This was going to hurt.

With one final burst of speed she closed with the boy and channeled all her chakra into her right arm, screaming in pain as the flames turned white hot. She punched straight through the sand that moved to block her, hitting Gaara in the gut. She felt the sand armor crack under the force of the blow, and with the last of her strength the struck again, the poisoned kunai in her other hand jabbing at the weak point. Gaara caught the blade in one hand, wrenching it from her grasp.

For a moment everything was still. Then Sakura collapsed, her flames evaporating. Gaara looked at the stolen weapon, then pressed it against his own chest, where Sakura had hit. "Enough, Mother," he said, almost softly, closing his eyes. When he reopened them, both were human. Sand began to stream back slowly into his gourd.

The last thing Sakura saw was a furious Asuma landing between her and Gaara, weapons out, and then darkness claimed her.

* * *

><p>Author's Random Ramblings<p>

1) Chapter number two! Which is way too long for something that only covers one-fiftieth of the story. Trying to do a chuunin exam in this format may have been a mistake.

2) I believe this chapter may have the only Fuuma Sasame point of view scene in all of Naruto fanfiction. I'm certainly not aware of any others.

3) Thanks go again to everyone at The Fanfiction Forum who commented on the first draft of this story.

4) Next time, in One Hundred Weeks, Chapter Three: The Invisible Hand, the Chuunin Exam finals are only a month away, but there are more important things to worry about as tensions in the Sand Village reach the boiling point and Akatsuki makes its move.

Draft Started: May 13, 2011  
>Draft Finished: June 03, 2011<br>Draft Released: June 04, 2011  
>Final Released: Jun1 12, 2011<p> 


	4. Chapter 3: The Invisible Hand

One Hundred Weeks  
>A Naruto Fanfic<br>By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter 3: The Invisible Hand

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: Contrary to its status in several improbable alternate universes, Naruto does not belong to me. It belongs to Kishimoto Masashi; I'm just borrowing it without permission. However, the blame for the actual text of this fanfiction is mine. Also, squash.<p>

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><p><strong>Week Six<strong>

In most towns or cities in the world, it would have been an unusual sight. That a young man might stand on the roof of a low building was not strange, particularly in the Wind Country where most houses were built with rooftop access. It was somewhat weirder that he stood with a massive bird of prey perched on his arm, and it gained the full measure of oddness when one realized that the bird was mechanical, a puppet. Such a creation was something the average peasant might live their entire life without seeing.

In the Hidden Village of Sand, famed across the world for its unique puppetry techniques, it was a sight hardly worth noticing. However, even there, it was odd that the man was holding a conversation with the device. Puppeteers did not talk to their puppets - or at least did not talk and expect an answer - unless they were extremely disturbed. If an observer knew that this man was Yuura, one of the youngest members of the Sand's ruling council and not a master of puppetry, the strange conversation would have become interesting indeed.

There was no one to listen in, however, as Yuura spoke. "Chiyo-sama immediately petitioned again to perform the extraction, of course. Otokaze and Satetsu are blocking her, though. Neither of them wants that, and almost no one else is backing the motion. Even Ebizou-sama is against it." The Sand ninja chuckled darkly. "It seems that with less than two years of good behavior Gaara-kun's already gotten us to forget that we hated and feared him. He's subtler than he appears."

The mechanical bird's head turned, one painted, unmoving eye staring at the man. Its mouth did not open, but a quiet voice emerged despite that. "You did well arranging this incident, Yuura. This may work out better than if you'd succeeded in getting the container sent out after my partner," the bird said. "If the extraction is performed, I can steal and replace the vessel at my convenience, and it could be a decade or more before anyone knows Shukaku is lost."

"Chiyo-sama has vowed never to perform the sealing again," Yuura agreed, "and she's taken no apprentice to learn her art." He paused. "I can't switch to support her in this, though, not without raising suspicion from Otokaze. It wouldn't make a difference, in any case, Master."

"What of the Leaf?" the bird asked.

The man made a frustrated sound. "They aren't pushing for anything yet, any more than they retaliated when Gaara nearly attacked them when they first showed up," he said. "They've locked themselves in their guest house and aren't taking visitors. They didn't even take the Hokage's apprentice, the one Gaara-kun has the grudge against, to the hospital. I'm not sure what to make of it. Gaara-kun has provoked them enough that there should have been a reaction."

"The Rock?" the bird proposed.

"I suppose, Master," Yuura said, "but it isn't like the Leaf to ignore an attack on one of them, even if they are scared of driving us away from the alliance." He paused. "The genin taking the exam returned this evening," he added. "The Toad Hermit was with them. I suppose it was too much to hope that those rumors he spread that he was leaving were true."

"So long as his gaze is focused on his boy, he won't be a concern to me," the bird stated.

"As you say, Master."

The bird was silent for several minutes, but Yuura waited patiently until it was ready. "These are your orders, Yuura. Push the council to approve the extraction by any means necessary. We will arrange to remove the opposition." There was a whirring sound, and the puppet's breast opened up. The exposed innards moved, and slowly a glass vial filled with a dark liquid emerged, held by a metal prong. Several more vials, holding different-colored fluids, were visible inside the bird.

Yuura took the offered vial with his free hand. "Master?"

"Use that on the container if the council still won't move on its own," the bird ordered as its insides moved again and its breast closed. "That poison will take a week or so to kill it. They'll have no choice but to extract before it's too late. The blame will point at the Leaf."

"Yes, Master."

"My partner will come to the village to oversee the operation," the bird continued. "A sacrifice will be required. A jounin preferably, but a strong chuunin will do. You will have one prepared in three days, when I will contact you again."

"Yes, Master." Yuura's voice did not show any sign at discomfort with that order.

"You've done well so far, Yuura," the puppet said. "Continue to serve me well, and the rewards will be great."

"Thank you, Master Sasori." Yuura bowed awkwardly to bird perched on his outstretched arm.

With a faint whirring sound, the puppet bird extended its wings. They began to beat slowly, and the wooden creature took off. An instant later, a transformation occurred, the puppet taking on the semblance of a living bird, no different than the messengers used by the Sand ninja.

Yuura bowed again, more deeply, as he watched the disguised puppet fly off. Then he straightened, and vanished in a swirl of sand. He had much work to do.

* * *

><p>The Hidden Village of Sand was situated in an immense bowl, surrounded by high cliffs which descended just as steeply down to the surrounding desert a few hundred yards further out. The formation was not natural, having been created to protect the new village by the First Kazekage, whose mastery of earth element ninjutsu was second only to his unrivaled wind techniques. In the generations since then, the Sand had improved on their founder's gift. They dug secret caves and passages and carved massive terraces on both sides of the mountainous wall. On the outer terraces, they built defensive fortifications. The village expanded to use the space provided on the inner face.<p>

Uzumaki Naruto ran straight up the side of one of those terraces, a small one which contained a medium-sized training ground. He made no attempt at stealth, but no one stopped him until he reached the top of the terrace. There, a man in the uniform of a Sand chuunin waited, standing by a flickering electric lamp atop a post. Naruto paused after climbing over the guard rail.

"Sorry, but you don't want to use this area tonight," the chuunin said. "It's being used by -"

"Out of my way," the boy growled. For just an instant, there was a barest flash of red chakra in the air around him.

The Sand ninja's eyes widened. "You're Leaf!" he exclaimed, his eyes focusing on Naruto's forehead protector. "You aren't cleared for this area!"

"I don't care," Naruto said. He didn't move forward, but his body shook with contained energy. The man started to form a seal with one hand, and in an instant Naruto was inside his guard, his smaller hand closing around the half-formed seal. "No alarms." Something flashed in his eyes. "I'm here to have a talk with him." A sense of pressure and power filled the air around him.

"I can't just let you in," the Sand ninja stammered.

In the shadows on the edge of the lamp's reach, something stirred. Sand rose up into an approximation of human shape. "It's fine," a soft voice said from the darkness. "He can take care of himself." The sand crumbled into small pile.

"All… all right," the Sand ninja said nervously. After a moment, Naruto released his grip on the man's hand. He backed away, turning and breaking into a run once he was out of Naruto's reach.

The Leaf genin ignored the fleeing ninja, stalking into the training ground. His eyes quickly adjusted the darkness. The dim moonlight was enough for him to see his target.

In the middle of the training ground, Gaara of the Desert sat cross-legged in a small bowl of sand that floated several feet off the ground. As Naruto approached, the sand sank back down to the earth, and the other boy stood. "Naruto-kun," Gaara stated calmly in greeting.

Naruto didn't reply, stalking forward until he stood within arm's reach of Gaara. Then Naruto punched him in the face. Sand blocked the strike. In a blur of motion, Naruto was behind Gaara, spinning into a powerful kick. More sand stopped him, inches from Gaara's back.

"The sand defends me without my will," Gaara said, not turning to face his attacker. "I'm sorry."

At that, Naruto calmed somewhat. He fell back into a ready stance, and now Gaara turned around. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but for just a moment Naruto's eyes flashed red and turned inhuman. "You hurt Sakura-chan," he said. This time, the crimson chakra that flared around him hung in the air for several seconds.

"I did," Gaara agreed. "It will not happen again."

"No, it won't," Naruto said, the promise of violence heavy in his simple statement.

"Threats are unnecessary," Gaara said. "I had no desire to hurt anyone yesterday."

"Didn't seem to stop you," Naruto replied. One of his fists clenched, lengthening nails almost drawing blood. With visible effort, he forced the hand open.

Gaara's green eyes flickered closed. "I will not make excuses," he declared as his eyes reopened. "It is my power, and my responsibility to control it." He paused. "You are making it… difficult."

Naruto glanced down, and saw the sand under his feet roiling. The blond took a deep breath. "You didn't want to hurt anyone," he said.

"Yes." Gaara's voice was still calm.

Naruto breathed again, closing his own eyes briefly. The wind stirred, and when his eyes reopened the air felt different. A terrible, heavy pressure was lifted. The moving sand stilled.

Gaara nodded. "We both know it is never easy," he said. "Even as we must make it appear so."

Naruto's mouth quirked into a slight smile. "At least I can get a decent night's sleep," he said, his voice forcibly light.

Gaara seemed to accept the change of topic. "On occasion, with appropriate preparations, I sleep. There are dreams. It is… unpleasant."

"Dreams," Naruto said. "I've had a few of those kind," he admitted. For just a moment, images filled his head, of a labyrinthine, humid sewer, where every path ultimately lead to the same terrible destination. He forced them away.

"It is never easy," Gaara repeated himself. "It is an existence fated for darkness. But you showed me a better way. Thank you."

Naruto winced. "I was just trying to protect my friends," he said. "If I'd had to, I would have killed you."

"I know," Gaara said, "but I would have killed you even if I didn't have to, for a foolish reason." He paused. "Because of you, I have a brother and a sister." He glanced out past Naruto, over the village that spread out below the small terrace they stood on. "It is never easy," he said again, "but even this village is now more than a collection of buildings to me. Even if you did not intend it, it was your example that gave me all this.

"I am sorry I repaid you in such poor fashion yesterday."

Naruto grimaced, but the terrible power did not return. "What happened?" he asked. One of his hands went to his stomach. "If you don't mind."

"The sand priests," Gaara answered slowly, "exerted their power where they should not have, and woke Mother. I was unprepared, and she struck at them. Sakura-san and others tried to protect them, rousing her further, and I was not able to regain control."

"Why do you call… it your mother?" Naruto asked. "I saw it, when we fought."

Gaara hesitated. "Do not tell my sister or my brother," he said. "They believe it an old delusion of mine, a cruel trick of the demon, and I see no purpose in disturbing their belief."

Naruto swallowed. "What do you mean?"

"I do not know what you know of my seal," Gaara said. "I myself do not know if it was required or an accident, but a sacrifice was made in the sealing." His eyes closed. "My mother died birthing me, and her hatred, her pain, and her rage live on inside of me, between me and the demon. Perhaps she is part of it now."

"I," Naruto began, but his voice faltered. "That's just… fucked up," he said. "I'm sorry I asked."

"Do not be," Gaara said. He smiled slightly. "Even when she rages, it is her will that powers the shield of sand. I did not understand, for a long time, but now I choose to believe that her love lives on as well."

Naruto turned away, and for a moment the two looked out over the Sand Village in silence. "You're really amazing, Gaara." The other boy shook his head, but Naruto pressed on. "I'm not… I don't know if I'm as strong as you think I am," he said. "I grew up… I was alone, and it hurt. I thought it hurt worse than anything, and I didn't know why I was alone.

"But you were worse than alone, weren't you? And you were told why from the start. I don't know, if I had grown up like you, and if I had met someone like me… I don't know if I could have turned from that path the way you have." His hands clenched. "There have been times when I've lost control too," he said. "I've been training with Ero-sennin, working on meditation techniques and more, but even after that, if I have to call upon that power…" Naruto trailed off.

"It is never easy," Gaara said one more time.

"It never is," Naruto agreed. He paused. "I need to apologize to your sister," he said. "I had to threaten her a little to find out where you were."

Gaara shrugged. "She is used to it," he said simply.

Naruto let out a laugh. "They'll never believe me back home if I tell them you make jokes now." His face turned serious. "There was something else I needed to talk to you about, Gaara," he said.

"What is it?"

"There's a girl, taking the exams," Naruto said. "Hinata-chan - do you remember her?" Gaara nodded, and Naruto continued, "She can see things with her eyes." He snorted. "You know what I mean."

"I do." Gaara paused. "What did she see about this girl?"

"Hinata-chan thinks she… thinks she's like us," Naruto said.

Gaara stiffened. "Who?" he said, his voice tight.

"From Waterfall," Naruto said. "Her name is Fuu, and she's maybe three or four years younger than we are."

"I have not met her," Gaara said.

"I tried to talk to her," Naruto said, "but she wouldn't let me. I think… I think she sees herself as a weapon, and nothing more." His eyes closed as he remembered another ninja he had met, years ago in Wave Country, who had felt that way and died for it. "She almost killed a ninja from Snow Country," he said, "in the preliminaries. She thought he had hurt her teammate."

"There are worse reasons," Gaara said.

Whatever Naruto might have said to that was lost as someone coughed behind them. They turned around. "You shouldn't be here, Naruto-kun," Otokaze of the Explosion said. "Gaara-kun is in isolation following yesterday's incident."

Naruto shrugged. "I needed to talk to him."

Another man appeared beside Otokaze. His eyes glanced between the two boys. "I was afraid I was going to have to break up a fight," Baki said. "That's the last thing we need now, with Chiyo on the warpath."

"We are not going to fight, Baki-sensei." Gaara said calmly. "Our discussion was productive."

Baki grunted. "Then good," he said. His gaze turned to Naruto again. "You should get out of here, boy," he said, "before she shows up."

"Who's Chiyo?" Naruto asked.

"A member of the Sand's council," Otokaze explained. "An enemy of your village."

"She wishes to perform an extraction on me," Gaara stated simply.

It took Naruto a moment to understand what Gaara meant. "She can do that?" he asked, a little awed. He had never imagined that was possible. "Then why not…"

"The extraction," Baki interjected dryly, "invariably results in the destruction of the container."

Naruto blinked. "Oh."

Otokaze glanced between the Leaf ninja and Baki. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you know about Gaara, all things considered."

Naruto stilled. Otokaze seemed nice enough, and Jiraiya seemed to trust him, but Naruto was never comfortable when someone he didn't really know hinted at knowing his secret. "I should go, then," he said after a moment.

"Thank you," Gaara whispered, "for talking with me."

"It's nothing," Naruto said awkwardly, and then he left, this time taking the long stairs down to the village.

* * *

><p>Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin was not amused. Under ordinary circumstances, he quite enjoyed having unrestricted access to a young woman's sleeping chambers. These were not those circumstances, not when the woman in question was in truth still a girl, nor when she was Tsunade's apprentice and his apprentice's teammate, and particularly not when the reason for that access was that she was injured and Jiraiya was the closest thing available to a medical ninja that could be trusted.<p>

Right now, at six in the morning after a night of no sleep, he was waiting for the girl lying in her bed to wake up from the induced sleep he had been keeping her in. He wasn't a fully trained medic, but he hadn't been Tsunade's teammate for more than a decade without picking up more than his fair share of medical ninjutsu. Her cracked and broken ribs, he could set on the path to healing in a week or so of bedrest. It was the rest of the damage that was beyond him, and left him needing to find out just what had caused it.

He didn't breathe a sigh of relief when Haruno Sakura's eyes opened. Her gaze was unfocused as she looked about. "My head feels funny," she said slowly, slurring the words. "And I can't feel my arm."

"Both of those would be my fault," Jiraiya said. "Give me a moment."

Sakura looked at him. "What're… you doing in my room, pervert?" she asked.

Jiraiya sighed, forming seals and then laying one hand on the girl's forehead. When he withdrew his hand, Sakura shook her head, blinking rapidly. Then she looked at Jiraiya, her eyes now clear. "Jiraiya-sama?" she asked. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me the details," Jiraiya said. He offered her a crooked smile that probably didn't seem forced. "Just because all these Sand think you've fought Gaara doesn't mean you had to go and do it."

"He… his demon was going to hurt Aya-san and Hiroto-san." Sakura shrugged one shoulder - the arm Jiraiya hadn't numbed. "You said to watch out for them."

"I didn't mean for you to get yourself killed," Jiraiya said. "Tsunade-hime would kill me." His face darkened. "Trust me, I'm going to have a long talk with those two idiots." And probably ship them back to Nori as soon as he could.

"Is everyone okay?" Sakura asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "You did good," he said, as comfortingly as he could. "Nobody died, and your injuries were the worst." He smiled again. "I think that reputation of yours probably grew another two sizes. The Sand rumor mill is saying that you forced Gaara down single-handedly."

Sakura winced in her bed. "I wasn't alone," she said. "Temari-san, and that Rock jounin…"

"I know," Jiraiya said. "Sarutobi-san told me what he could." He knew his face hardened at the mention of that name. At least the sand priests had the excuse of being children. Sarutobi Asuma was an elite jounin and should have been more than capable of ensuring that Sakura had never been in a position to get hurt like this.

Sakura glanced around her bedroom again. "Not the hospital," she said. "Security?"

Jiraiya nodded. "I'm not going to trust the Sand with your life," he told her. "We still think someone tried to kill you, after all."

"How long was I out?"

"Only a day," Jiraiya said. "Naruto and I returned earlier this… well, yesterday evening now."

Sakura winced again. "Naruto didn't do anything… rash, did he?"

"Not too rash," Jiraiya said. "Before I call everyone in and tell them you're okay, though…" He trailed off, then tapped the heavily bandaged arm that lay numb and useless at Sakura's side. Sakura glanced at it, and winced again. "What rash thing did you do, Sakura-chan?"

"I…" Sakura hesitated. "I needed something to penetrate his defense," she said.

"And?" Jiraiya prompted.

"You're familiar with Shishou's strength enhancement technique?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Use precise chakra control to flood your limb with chakra and bolster your strength at the moment of impact," he said, "without undo strain on the muscles." He stressed the last words.

"I… haven't quite mastered that part," Sakura said weakly.

Jiraiya snorted. "That might explain the torn muscle and broken bones, but it wasn't what burned your arm and damaged the chakra coils in it."

"Fire Dragon Fist Style," Sakura said after a moment.

Jiraiya searched his memory. "Anko-chan's taijutsu style, right?" he asked. Sakura nodded. "I don't recall the details," Jiraiya admitted.

"It utilizes a secret fire element ninjutsu," Sakura said. "To take the natural flow of chakra in the lower arms, automatically aspect it to fire element, and use it to generate an aura of flame." She paused before continuing. "I combined the two."

"That was stupid." Jiraiya sighed. That would explain the pattern of damage, though. Anko's technique wouldn't be designed to handle the sudden, massive flow of chakra. The aura of fire would become a firestorm focused on the user's arm. Unsafe amounts of fire-natured chakra would be left pooling in the chakra coils of the arm. There maybe were the basics of a technique there, with a lot of work, but improvised and unpracticed… "That was really stupid," he said, "to try something like that on the fly."

"I didn't see a lot of options," Sakura said, "and I was pretty sure it would work." She paused. "I'd practiced with lower power a little."

"I'm surprised Tsunade let you."

"She… err… didn't," Sakura said weakly. "When I explained the idea to her she said it was too dangerous."

Jiraiya sighed, but he didn't bother to ask the kunoichi why she'd disobeyed. He didn't know the pink-haired girl particularly well, but he knew enough to guess at the reason. Naruto had the Rasengan, and Sasuke had Kakashi's Raikiri. It probably wouldn't do any more good for him to tell her to stop working on it than it had Tsunade. "I suppose you have a name for this… technique?" he asked.

"Not really," Sakura said. "Everything I thought of just sounded stupid. I figured maybe I'd come up with something once I completed the technique."

There was a light tapping on the door, and Jiraiya glanced at it. "I guess you can come in, Sarutobi-san," he said sourly.

His teacher's son slipped inside, shutting the door quietly behind him. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Asuma asked.

Sakura just glanced at Jiraiya. "I think you'll be fine," Jiraiya said carefully, "eventually. I'm doing what I can. Once Shizune-chan gets here, she can take a look at that arm."

"Shizune-sama is coming here?" Sakura asked.

"I've sent a message asking Tsunade for her," Jiraiya answered. "I expect she'll be on her way as soon as possible." He paused. "What do you want, Sarutobi-san?"

"I need to make my report to my commander," the jounin said.

Jiraiya could feel the sheer force of the girl's embarrassment without even having to look at her. "Is this really necessary right now?" he asked Asuma, letting a little more of his irritation at the other man into his voice.

"I think it is," Asuma said.

Jiraiya heard Sakura take a deep breath, and he glanced at her. "All right," she said. "Report."

"Two of our teams passed the second exam," he said. "Suzume Namida's team and Yuuhi Kurenai's." Jiraiya deliberately let out an annoyed grunt, but Asuma didn't respond, continuing his pointless report. "Namiashi Honzo from Uzuki Yuugao's team was injured in the second exam. Uzuki-san requested to be released from her mission here to return home with her team. Yuuhi-san was willing to replace her, so I took the liberty of allowing it."

Jiraiya could tell that the jounin was hiding something there, but he doubted Sakura could and honestly he didn't care what it was. "What's the point of this?" Jiraiya snapped. He was tired and he did not have time for Asuma to get around to whatever he was actually trying to do. "If all you're going to do is play act at being her subordinate, Sarutobi, we all have better things to be doing."

Sakura raised her good hand to her forehead. "This is about why you sent a shadow replication with me, isn't it, Asuma-sensei?"

The jounin hesitated, then answered. "Ah, damn it. Yes, it is. I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I took a stupid risk and messed up, and you paid for it."

Sakura shook her head. "There wasn't any reason to expect any trouble your replication couldn't handle." Jiraiya decided not to comment that she was being too kind. At least Asuma did seem to realize just how badly he'd failed. Given that, there was no need to pile on the guilt.

"Yes there was," Asuma replied. "We knew someone had tried before to set up a fatal confrontation between you and Gaara. I'm not convinced this wasn't a second attempt. That would explain why it took the Sand so long to intervene."

"I'm sure whatever you were up to was important," Sakura said. Asuma opened his mouth, but the girl stopped him with a weak gesture of her good arm. "I'm also sure I shouldn't know what it was," she said.

"You're probably right," Asuma agreed after a second's hesitation.

The door to Sakura's bedroom swung open widely, banging loudly against the wall. "Is Sakura-chan awake?" Naruto asked.

The girl averted her eyes. "Yes, Naruto," she said.

Jiraiya hid his smirk by scratching his chin. "Maybe you should have put some pants on first, brat," he offered. He'd certainly found that showing up in a young girl's sleeping chambers in your boxers, while efficient, was not always appreciated.

Naruto glanced downward, then scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Sakura-chan," he said. "I just heard talking and wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I thought you went to bed," Asuma stated.

The boy shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

Jiraiya could hear people stirring about the guest house. "And now no one can with the racket you're making."

"Sorry," the boy muttered, stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. He looked at Sakura. "You're going to be okay, right?" he asked.

Sakura glanced at Jiraiya. "I guess it looks that way?"

"You'll probably be stuck in this bed until Shizune gets here to finish the job," Jiraiya said, standing, "but it doesn't look like you did any serious damage." He looked between his student and his teammate. "I think I'll let you two talk a bit," he said, "and get myself some food. Then I'll have to put you under again while I do some work on your arm, now that I know what you did to it."

Sakura nodded. "Okay."

Jiraiya turned to leave. As he passed Naruto, he reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, ignoring his futile effort to dodge. "Once you're done talking, you should get some sleep, boy. When I'm done working on her, we'll start training again." He glanced at Asuma. "Come with me, Sarutobi," he ordered. "I think we need to have a talk while I eat."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>Hinata found herself idly wondering if anyone in the Hyuuga Clan had considered asking an Akimichi or two to serve as training dummies for children learning the Gentle Fist. Even with the Byakugan, tenketsu were small and hard to target in the heat of combat. With Chouji swollen to almost three times his natural size, though, Hinata almost felt like she could see his tenketsu with her eyes relaxed.<p>

The kunoichi forced herself to rein in her wandering thoughts as Kurenai said, "Begin." A spar wasn't real combat, but not paying attention during one was still a good way to get hurt.

One of Chouji's arms grew further, until his hand was larger than Hinata. It came at her quickly, but she danced out of the way, her own hands darting out to touch the tenketsu on the back of the boys hand before it shrunk. She frowned to herself, realizing that they were only partially closed. It must take more chakra to affect them when they were so huge, she decided.

Even as the first shrank back, Chouji's other arm rocketed toward her. This time, Hinata jumped backward, her hands forming seals in midair. "Katon: Fireball Technique!" she announced, breathing out a ball of fire that grew to be twice the size of her head. She put enough chakra in the attack to singe, but not enough to hurt even if he took the full force. That was a lesson Kurenai had forced into her team before she'd let them use any elemental ninjutsu in spars.

Chouji sunk into the ground before the attack reached him. Hinata landed and immediately jumped into the air a second time. She refocused all her perception on the ground of the training area, until she spotted her opponent moving through the sandy earth, back to his normal size. Could he not maintain the Multi-Size Technique while underground?

Hinata landed on top of one of the boulders scattered about the training ground, next to Kurenai. The jounin smiled at her, then vanished in a swirl of wind to reappear on a more distant boulder. Hinata kept her attention on Chouji, but for the moment he seemed content to stay underground, slowly spiraling in on her new position. How was he tracking her? Vibrations through the earth?

She was going to need to force him back to the surface. She knew Naruto could do the same thing, and probably would when they fought in the finals. Something quivered inside her at the thought, but she ruthlessly forced it back. Even if her opponent was him, Naruto would want her to do her best and never give up. Maybe that would even be enough for her to pass, and her father couldn't complain, not when even Neji had also -

Hinata snarled at herself, jumping to another boulder seconds before Chouji used the Fire Blossom Technique Kurenai had taught him to strike where she'd been perched with a jet of flame. Hadn't she just been reminding herself to keep her attention on the fight?

The Hyuuga heiress took a moment to search her pack for the right equipment and grab a soldier pill. Kurenai would scold her for using one in a spar, but she still needed it for this technique. As she jumped again, ahead of Chouji's next attack, she formed seals, summoning a shadow replication beneath her. She kicked off of her clone to change direction, sending it down to the ground while she headed for another boulder.

They both landed, and she took a breath of relief when Chouji took the bait, heading for her shadow replication. It was all out of her hands, now. When Chouji drew nearer the surface to use the Fire Blossom Technique, Hinata's replication detonated the dud explosive tags she was carrying, and dismissed itself. Chouji stopped, doubtless wondering what the loud noise had been.

An instant later, Kurenai landed where the clone had stood, kneeling down and tapping the ground with one finger. "Come on out, Chouji-kun," she ordered, and the boy obeyed. At a gesture from her teacher, Hinata joined them in the center of the training ground. Before relaxing her eyes, she spared a bit of attention for the guest house where the remaining Leaf ninja were staying. Naruto was in Sakura's room again, talking with the other girl. Hinata wondered whether she could learn to read lips through walls.

"Shadow replication?" Chouji asked. When Hinata nodded, he continued. "You must have made it in midair." She just nodded again.

"That was clever," Kurenai said, "but you need to stop using those soldier pills when you don't really need them." Hinata smiled faintly. After two years, her teacher really was predictable sometimes.

Chouji grunted in agreement. "There's always a price," he said.

Hinata knew she'd be feeling it in a couple hours, but it wasn't like she had anything better to do than rest then. Sharing a single training ground with another team and your first round opponent meant a lot of downtime. "I didn't have anything else to hit you underground," she said in explanation.

"I'm thinking about that," Kurenai told her. "The best ways are all earth element, though." Hinata wasn't very good with that element, even compared to her limited talent with fire manipulation.

"Do you know whether we've heard from the village about whether our families will be able to send someone to help us train?" Chouji asked. "Not that you and Asuma-sensei aren't excellent teachers, but…" He trailed off.

"Nothing yet," Kurenai said. "But if they don't I'll work with both of you the whole month, since Asuma's usually busy," she promised. "You're on opposite sides of the bracket, so it isn't much of a conflict of interest."

The boy nodded. "Thank you."

"We've got to give up the training ground now," Kurenai continued, "so Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun can use it. Get some rest and some food, and then we'll meet up and I'll tell you what I've spied out about the other teams." She smiled slyly. "And if you want to do some of your own spying and take a few looks back here while you eat, Hinata-chan, I won't tell."

Hinata's cheeks warmed. "I w-wouldn't," she began.

"You should," Chouji rumbled. "If the Rock weren't… well, the Rock, I'd be spying on this Mako girl I'm fighting first all I could."

"Information-gathering is part of being a ninja," Kurenai reminded her student.

Hinata just shrugged, and the three of them headed back into the house. The other team was lounging in the kitchen over the remnants of their lunch, discussing strategy.

"If you can close quickly with that fan user, Ami-chan," Inuzuka Shinta was saying, but he trailed off as Hinata, Chouji, and Kurenai came inside.

Seated beside him, Uzuki Ami grunted. "I know that," she said irritably. "You don't need to tell me the obvious fifteen times."

Her female teammate, Mitokado Fuki, muttered under her breath, "Except for when he does."

"I heard that," Ami complained.

Hinata tried to remember who the three were fighting while everyone exchanged pleasantries. Fuki and Ami were both going up against Sand ninja, she thought. She remembered Shinta was fighting the kunoichi from Waterfall who wasn't Fuu. Maya, that was her name.

"Hinata-chan?" Kurenai asked. "Could you go tell Naruto-kun and Jiraiya-sama that we're done with the training ground?"

Hinata nodded, and started heading for the stairs. Chouji followed her. She glanced at him, and he shrugged. "I want to see how Sakura is doing," he said, a slight hint of worry in his voice. The pink-haired girl was still bedridden and spent most of the time asleep, even half a week after her injury. Jiraiya had reassured everyone that she wasn't in any real danger, but it was still a little concerning.

Then again, if she'd really fought Gaara, she'd gotten off easy, Hinata thought. She remembered him from her first Chuunin Exams, and it wasn't a pleasant memory. He might have been like Naruto in one way, but in others he was nothing like him. Behind her and Chouji, someone stood.

"Ami-chan," Shinta said warningly. Hinata glanced back at the purple-haired girl

"I'm not going to challenge her to a fight," Ami said sourly to her teammate. "You two don't mind if I tag along, do you?" Hinata did, actually - even if she hadn't caught the bulk of it, she remembered Ami's bullying in the academy well enough - but she wasn't rude enough to say so.

"Why do you want to come?" Chouji asked suspiciously, apparently less concerned with politeness.

"That idiot Naruto won't let me in when I come by myself," Ami replied. Hinata almost reflexively protested, but decided it wasn't worth it. "And I want to remind forehead girl that she has to get better so she can see me kick ass in the finals."

Chouji snorted in amusement, and Hinata glanced at him. "It's nothing," he said. Ami looked puzzled for a moment, then turned bright red. Hinata frowned, and Chouji made the sign for "later" with one hand where the other girl couldn't see. "You might as well come up, then," he stated. "But if you do something stupid…"

"I won't," Ami promised, and the three of them headed up the stairs.

They met Jiraiya in the upstairs hallway. "Done with the training ground?" he asked. Hinata nodded. "Let's go get the brat then." He turned around and headed for Sakura's bedroom, throwing the door open. Everyone else followed him inside.

Naruto was sitting in a chair by Sakura's bed, but he stood up as they entered. "Time for training?" he asked Jiraiya after nodding to Hinata and Chouji. He ignored Ami, and Hinata guessed that he must remember her from the academy also, though it wasn't like him to hold a grudge.

"Hello, everyone," Sakura said, waving weakly with her good arm. Hinata quietly activated her eyes, studying her injured arm. Chakra was still not flowing normally through it.

"Are you doing okay?" Chouji asked her, stepping forward. Ami followed him, but Hinata stayed by the door.

Jiraiya glanced at her. "Do you see something?" he asked quietly as Sakura answered Chouji.

Hinata shrugged and relaxed her eyes. "I'm not a medical ninja," she said.

Naruto came over to them. "Are you training hard, Hinata-chan?" he asked.

"Y-yes," she stammered out.

Naruto grinned widely. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do," he said. Then he glanced backward, "I'll talk to you more later, Sakura-chan!" he said with a wave, interrupting her conversation with Chouji. Then he slipped past Hinata and Jiraiya.

The Sannin chuckled. "I guess I'd better go with him," he said. "Sakura-chan, if you can I want you to try pushing chakra through your arm a few times before you take your afternoon nap. Stop when it starts to hurt."

"Yes, sir," the pink-haired girl said, and Jiraiya left.

"We should probably go get lunch," Chouji said.

Ami, who had stayed quiet, suddenly spoke. "You really fought that kid with all the sand, from the exams before the invasion?"

Sakura glanced at her. "Yes."

Ami's face took on an expression that Hinata was sure even Neji wouldn't have claimed to be able to interpret, and she was silent for a moment. "Get better soon, forehead girl," she finally said, and then turned for the exit. Sakura frowned, but she didn't say anything, and after a minute more Hinata and Chouji left her to rest.

* * *

><p><strong>Week Seven<strong>

Over the past week, life in the Leaf ninja's guest house had settled into something approximating a routine. The cycle of the day was, so far as Sakura could tell from her relatively constrained perspective, built around the schedule Jiraiya, Kurenai, and Namida - the jounin of Ami and Fuki's team - had worked out for the training ground behind the house. Sakura understood that Asuma, who had taken over her duties interfacing with the Sand, had turned down their hosts' offer of the use of other training grounds. Sakura thought he might be overly paranoid, but better safe than sorry.

The sand priests had left yesterday, escorted back to their tribe by a Sand team Jiraiya had hired. Both of them had largely avoided Sakura, although Hiroto had actually stopped by to thank her for saving him and apologize for provoking Gaara. He hadn't used those words, of course, but the attempt had been clear enough even if the young boy wasn't quite capable of admitting it out loud.

"If you're feeling up to it," Jiraiya said, finishing his daily examination of her, "it might be a good idea for you to get a little exercise."

Sakura couldn't stop her grin at that. "I'm sick of this stupid room anyway," she said, "and I've already read all the books Naruto bought for me twice."

Jiraiya chuckled. "I could use someone to go over the latest draft of my next book if you're bored," he offered. "Ice-Cold Icha Icha."

The pink-haired girl flushed. "No, thank you," she murmured.

"Come on," the legendary ninja pleaded. "It's got a new set of characters, so you don't need to have read the earlier books! And my editor is after me to appeal to the female demographic!"

Sakura blinked. "You're kidding."

"I wish," Jiraiya said sourly. "Apparently that 'For Girls' spinoff I let them hire some hack to do a few years back finally came out in Earth Country and sold really well there. Now they want me to bring those readers into the main series. Somehow." He sighed. "I asked Tsunade-hime for advice and she just sent me back a voucher good for one full-strength punch the next time I was back in the Leaf Village."

Sakura laughed, then winced as that caused her still-healing injury to her side to ache. "Ow," she said. "Stop being funny, Jiraiya-sama."

He smiled. "Here," he said, "let me help you up," he said, and for the next several minutes he helped Sakura walk around the upstairs, before bringing her back to her room and settling her into a comfortable armchair. "Sitting up for a while will be good for you, too."

"Probably," Sakura agreed. "Could you fetch me that history of the Sand's founding over by the bed?"

Jiraiya wandered over and found the hardcover book, frowning as he flipped through it. "This looks like a propagandistic piece of trash," he said.

"I know," Sakura said. "But it's entertainingly written trash."

Jiraiya tossed the book at her, and she caught it with her good hand. Then the door opened, and Naruto came inside. "It's our turn for the training ground, Ero-sennin," he said. He glanced toward the bed, then found Sakura seated in the chair. "You're moving around, Sakura-chan? That's great!"

"A little," Sakura said. She grimaced. "Not enough."

Jiraiya frowned. "I wish Shizune would get here. I'm sure she could have you up and moving in no time at all, and I was actually hoping to have some training time with you too this month."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

Sakura blinked. "With me?"

Jiraiya sighed. "It isn't like you really need more of my training for these exams, Naruto," he explained. "We're just doing mostly the same things we'd be doing anyway." He frowned, his eyes suddenly distant. "I don't really care what happens in the finals in a few weeks. I'm concerned with what happens in a year and a half or so."

Sakura paled. "Oh," she said. It was so easy, to… well not to forget, but to get used to the ultimate goal that hung over them, the reason for all her struggles. Weeks would go by without her giving it a single active thought.

"Sasuke," Naruto breathed, apparently just as struck by the reminder.

"And it would help if we had a chance to train together some before we try again, wouldn't it?" Sakura asked. Damn it, she had picked an awful time to get injured, hadn't she?

Naruto smiled weakly. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. It worked out pretty well last time, didn't it?" he said. "We just need to work on the part where that bastard Kabuto shows up."

Sakura forced herself to smile back at him. "I could do without the part where we get caught in a genjutsu and Ino and Anko-sensei have to rescue us, too." She couldn't stop from shuddering as she remembered the nightmare Sasuke had plunged her into. She'd never bothered to ask Naruto what he had seen; she didn't want to share her experience and didn't imagine he felt any differently.

Jiraiya snorted. "Don't worry about it. By the time Tsunade-hime and I are done with you two, that little Uchiha won't know what hit him." He put one hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Let's get going, brat."

Sakura frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Wait," she said. "Is it safe for me to use a ninjutsu?"

Jiraiya frowned. "So long as it isn't fire… ah, I see. Yes, that should be fine."

"Huh?" Naruto said.

"Just a moment," Sakura said, clumsily forcing her hands through seals. "Shadow Replication Technique," she said.

And then Sakura's clone was standing in front of the real her. A brief shudder ran through her at the sudden sense of vertigo. She hated this moment, when she realized she was just a copy. The real Sakura smiled up at her. "Have fun," she said, a trace of irrational jealousy that she couldn't hide from herself in her voice.

"You've got it," the clone replied, stretching what would have been her bad arm. The real Sakura hadn't been certain whether the injury would be replicated on the clone, but fortunately she didn't feel any weakness.

"I wish you'd mentioned you knew that technique earlier," Jiraiya groaned. He grinned. "You should probably change, though."

Sakura's clone glanced down at her nightgown. "Probably," she agreed, forming a seal. "Transform!" There was a puff of smoke, and she was wearing one of her normal training outfits, and red shirt and black shorts, complete with practice weapons hidden about her person, just as real as she was. Tsunade had once tried to explain to her the theory behind how the Transformation Technique and the Shadow Replication Technique interacted. That had been one of the few times in her life that Sakura had felt too stupid to understand something.

Jiraiya was staring at something, and both Sakura followed his eyes to the dark snake tattoo winding around the clone's arm. The clone reflexively covered it with her other hand. "Sorry," the Sannin said. "That mark just brings back… bad memories."

Naruto let out a short laugh. "I think it looks cool," he said. "Not really your thing, Sakura-chan, but still cool."

Jiraiya smiled, whatever demons that haunted him apparently vanished. "I'm surprised Anko-chan didn't suffer any permanent injury when Tsunade-hime found out about that, though," he said.

Sakura's clone shrugged, and the real one answered. "I don't know," Sakura said. "Tsunade-shishou's never really complained about it to me. I'm actually sort of glad, though." The real Sakura shuddered theatrically. "Slugs?" she stage-whispered. "Don't tell Shishou, but they're kind of gross."

Naruto laughed again, and Jiraiya grinned. "They're nicer than the snakes, though," the old ninja offered.

Sakura's clone glanced at the real her to see if she'd had the same reaction. Stupid, since there was only a minute or so's difference between them. "Don't insult my summons," the real Sakura said. "They're all perfectly nice."

"Really?" Jiraiya asked curiously. "Even back… before, the ones I met were kind of unpleasant. And Anko-chan's complained often enough."

The real Sakura let the clone respond to that. "I think that's because I might be the first snake summoner to know the words 'please' and 'thank you,'" she said.

Jiraiya stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "I almost wish you had the chakra to summon Manda, girl," he said. "Just to see that old snake's reaction to that." He shook his head. "Come on, you two," he said, gesturing at Naruto and Sakura's clone. "We're wasting time."

A few minutes later, the three of them were out on the training ground. "So what's Tsunade been teaching you, Sakura-chan, that left her too busy to pound the sense to not pick a fight with someone like Gaara into you?"

"Umm… lots?" Sakura's clone - now that they were separated it was probably simpler for her to think of herself as just Sakura - answered. "Battle tactics, strength enhancement, a lot of work building up my chakra reserves and stamina." She paused. "Shizune-sama works with me on first aid and basic medical techniques. Anko-sensei teaches me fire element ninjutsu, and I've been working with Shimura-sensei on genjutsu."

Jiraiya blinked. "Shimura-sensei? You don't mean Shimura Danzo, do you?"

Sakura nodded. "That's him."

"Who's he?" Naruto asked curiously.

"An old bastard." Jiraiya snorted. "He and that crone Chiyo would make quite a pair." He shook his head. "I don't know what is more surprising, that he came out of retirement or that Tsunade let him get his claws into her apprentice."

"His claws?" Sakura asked, a little irritated. "Don't be so rude."

Jiraiya sighed. "I guess if Tsunade is trusting him, I'll just have to trust her judgment. Maybe he's turned over a new leaf in retirement." He let out a grunt. "Maybe Shizune-chan's pet will learn to fly, too."

"So what are we going to do?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm." Jiraiya rubbed as his chin. "Normally I'd start you two off with a spar, but Sakura-chan might get a little annoyed if she has to keep making new replications."

Sakura smiled at that. "Probably. I… she can only make a few before we run out of chakra, too."

"How many are you up to?" Jiraiya asked.

"Only three replications at once," Sakura said, "and one is really the maximum if I want to be using any other techniques."

"Only three?" Jiraiya asked, stressing the first word. "I think your scale is a little off thanks to this freak of nature over here." He waved a hand at Naruto, who made a not particularly sincere-seeming pout. "Three shadow replications is really impressive for a chuunin."

Sakura smiled at the praise, but then her face darkened. "Really impressive for a chuunin isn't going to be good enough, though. Is it, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "We'll get him back." He stated the words as though they were a simple, inevitable fact.

Sakura almost believed that he could make it so through sheer force of will, sometimes, but that wasn't good enough. It had been her promise to Naruto, and to herself, after Sasuke had… left. Next time, they'd do it together. She wasn't ever going to be left behind or a burden again.

Jiraiya glanced between the two of them, then about the training ground. "I guess this is big enough, if Naruto can keep things under control," he said, half to himself.

"Big enough for what?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya smiled widely. "You two are going to learn what can happen a wind element user and a fire element user cooperate," he said.

Sakura thought back to her lessons on elemental ninjutsu, and then she smiled as well. This should be interesting.

* * *

><p>Matsuri of the Bleeding Crow sent her weapon flying away to the left of the three targets set up a half-dozen paces ahead of her. The hooks of the metal dart passed inches from the closest target, tantalizing close to a hit. She imagined a taunting smirk on her opponent's face at the near miss.<p>

She smiled herself as her hand gently twitched, channeling chakra through the long handle. At the far end of the metal-braided rope, the pronged dart changed direction, swinging around with a sudden burst of speed to strike the rightmost target from behind. Instants before the moment of impact, her free hand formed a seal. "Raiton: Shocking Strike," she whispered, a pulse of lightning-natured chakra speeding down the rope. When her weapon struck, electricity arced around the target, knocking it from its perch.

Her smile widening, Matsuri twitched her hand again, recalling her weapon. Fresh out of the academy, she had chosen the jouhyou to specialize in due to its suitability for non-lethal restraint. A three-month tour of duty in Rain Country had changed her mind about the reasons, but not her appreciation of the unusual weapon.

Her father clapped twice behind her. "Very good, Matsuri-chan," he said.

The girl was proud that she didn't flush at the praise, but she did take a moment to smile a bit more widely before smoothing her expression and turning to face her father. "Thank you," she said calmly.

"You've come so far in the past year," her father continued. "I'm proud of you, no matter what happens in two weeks."

Matsuri just bowed quietly. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her mother leaning out the back window of their house a moment before the woman spoke. "You're supposed to save that for the end of the month, Satetsu," she said. "Now she's just going to slack off when I'm training her tomorrow."

"I won't!" Matsuri protested, but she was drowned out by her father's deep laugh.

"Don't be cruel to her, Kanon," Satetsu said lightly. "She's been working hard. That Leaf girl won't be any match for her." Matsuri wished she were so confident. Mitokado Fuki hadn't fought in the preliminaries, and they hadn't met in the second exam. She had no idea what her abilities were, and direct spying was out of the question for political reasons.

Matsuri's mother smirked. "I know," she said. "By the way, you're going to be late for that joint training you arranged with Kurotsuchi-san."

Satetsu glanced up at the sun, and his mouth twitched. "You're right," he said.

"I always am."

Satetsu shook his head with another laugh, then turned to Matsuri. "Come along," he ordered, jumping on top of the rear fence of their backyard, and Matsuri followed him over the fence and through the streets of her home village. She frowned slightly. Hopefully the Rock team wouldn't have a grudge over the outcome of the preliminary round.

Only a few minutes before they would have indeed been late, they arrived at the training ground near the academy. Matsuri was familiar with it, as the academy classes used it quite often. It was split in two by a shallow, if steep and wide, fissure. Most of the time, a trio wooden boards crossed it, although Matsuri noted that today one was missing. Likely it had broken during the Rock ninja's earlier training.

The jounin, Kurotsuchi, was the only one of the Rock apparent when Matsuri and her father arrived. She stood to one side of the training ground, intent on a stopwatch held in one hand. She didn't turn to meet the two Sand, instead just giving a wave with her other hand. "Howdy, Satetsu," she said easily.

Matsuri stiffened, but tried not to show her burst of anger any other way. Her father was a member of the Sand's Council of Elders, the leading candidate to become the next Kazekage. He deserved respect.

"Kurotsuchi," her father said just as informally. Then his face hardened. "I apologize again for the unpleasantness with Gaara-kun last week."

"No apology needed," the Rock woman replied. "It was fun, and I got to see Haruno-san in action. Tell him we should do it again sometime." Matsuri blinked. She wasn't… terrified of Gaara, at least not after her time in Rain, but that was a level of casualness she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"All right," Satetsu said. He glanced at the ground. "You trying to kill your team?"

The jounin shrugged, hitting the button on her stopwatch and kicking at the ground. "You three can come on out now."

The Rock genin melted out of the ground. The kunoichi - Akiyama Mako, Matsuri reminded herself - almost instantly collapsed, lying down on her back. "Man, it's hard staying under that long, Kurotsuchi-sensei."

The jounin shrugged. "Builds character, Mako-chan," she said.

One of the boys - the one Matsuri had knocked out of the preliminary round, Gonkuro - helped his teammate stand. Matsuri glanced at the bandages still wrapped on his shoulder. "I hope you are healing well, Gonkuro-san," she offered.

The other boy - Yamakita Akira - slapped him on the back, right next to the injured shoulder. Matsuri wasn't able to completely hide her sympathetic wince. "He's fine," Akira said. "Aren't you?"

Gonkuro rolled his eyes. "I am well, Matsuri-san. Thank you for your concern." He bowed slightly.

Matsuri returned the gesture, and Akira laughed. "You two make a cute pair," he said. Mako just giggled.

Matsuri could feel her cheeks heat. "Don't be stupid," Gonkuro told his teammate, shaking his hand from his shoulder.

"Hey," Akira said. "Who you calling stupid? At least I made it to the final round!" Gonkuro just grunted, rolling his eyes again.

Matsuri glanced at her father, not sure what to make of the display, to find him deep in whispered conversation with Kurotsuchi. The two adults noticed her attention, and looked up at the genin. "I suppose we should get them started," Satetsu said.

"I suppose," Kurotsuchi said. She waved one hand. "Have fun; knock yourselves out," she declared. "Don't do anything permanent, and if you hit me I'll hit you back." Matsuri's father snorted, but he let himself be drawn back into his conversation with her.

Matsuri just stared at the three Rock genin for a moment. Mako giggled again. "Kurotsuchi-sensei is always like that," she said.

"Hey," Akira said, as though something had just occurred to him. "Do you know anything about this Yahiko of the White Stone I'm supposed to fight?" Both Rock in the finals were on the opposite side of the bracket from Matsuri.

She shrugged. "Not a lot," she said. "We were in different classes."

"Oh, okay," Akira said. "You want to spar or something?"

"Idiot," Gonkuro said. "That's what she's here for."

* * *

><p>"The Leaf are still isolating themselves," Temari reported. "Otokaze-sama offered again to send them a trusted medic to look at Sakura-san, and Sarutobi-san refused again." She tapped her fingers on her teacher's desk. "Sorry, Baki-sensei, but it is making it really hard to do my job."<p>

"Sakura-san is recovering well," Gaara interjected from where he stood, leaning on the wall next to door to Baki's office. "They expect she will be fully recovered once the medic the Hokage is sending arrives. Naruto-kun has been training with Jiraiya-sama for the exam finals."

Perched on a stool next to Temari, Kankuro looked back at his younger brother. "How'd you find that out?"

"I talked with Naruto-kun," Gaara stated simply.

Temari sighed. "You're making me look bad, Gaara," she complained. Then she shrugged. "I'd probably be able to get something out of Sakura-san if I could talk to her, but she isn't going anywhere for the obvious reasons."

"She has started using shadow replications to train with Naruto-kun," Gaara commented.

"Oh." That was that weird solid clone technique Naruto used, wasn't it? They could operate that independently? That was kind of creepy.

Kankuro chuckled. "Too bad that lazy kid isn't here," he said. "I'm sure you could get plenty out of him."

Temari stared at him. "Don't be stupid."

Baki leaned forward, folding his hands in front of his face. "That's enough of that," he said firmly. "What about the Rock, Kankuro?"

The puppet user sighed, giving Temari a look that she knew meant further teasing later. Seriously, where had he gotten the idea that she and that annoying Shikamaru kid were in any sort of relationship? Did he think she secretly had some sort of messenger weasel summon ferrying love letters back and forth?

"Nothing new on that front," Kankuro began his report. "Kurotsuchi-san is training the two on her team in the finals hard. They had a joint training session with Satetsu's kid a couple days ago. That's about the most interesting thing they've been up to. Fortunately, she doesn't seem to care one way or another what happens to Gaara."

The younger boy didn't say anything, so Temari asked for him. "Has Chiyo-sama budged at all, Baki-sensei?"

"No," Baki said sourly. "She's a stubborn old bitch, and we have to humor her on this because she is our best sealing expert."

"I will not allow the extraction," Gaara said, "on her whim alone."

Kankuro grunted. "We weren't about to let her get close enough to try," he said.

"It's not something we need to worry about," Baki said, "at least so long as there aren't any more… incidents. Otokaze and Satetsu are both against it, neither the Rock or the Leaf are pushing, and Chiyo can't even get her own brother to commit to supporting her on an extraction."

Temari grimaced. "Not because he's on our side, I'm sure."

"I suspect that Ebizou's objection, and that of the rest of Chiyo's faction, is that they want Gaara's power available in case the war expands," Baki said. "Even if Chiyo was willing to perform another sealing, it would be a decade before the new container was usable."

Temari frowned. "That's a person you're talking about, not a weapon," she complained. "Well, a hypothetical person."

Baki sighed. "You know I don't feel that way, Temari, but they do."

There was silence. "We need a Kazekage," Gaara said after a while.

"That would help," Baki said, "but the council is still deadlocked."

Temari grunted. "After all this mess, I wouldn't want any of those three to take the job."

"I was feeling like that half a year ago," Kankuro said with a snort.

"Who else?" Gaara asked simply.

Temari glanced at her other brother, then the two of them turned to look at Baki. "No," their teacher replied. "I'm not interested or qualified."

"If you say so," Kankuro said. Before anyone else could say anything, the whole building shook. "An explosion?" Kankuro asked.

Temari almost leaped from her stool, racing over to the window opposite the door, beside Baki's desk. A pillar of smoke rose over the Sand Village, only a few blocks away from the council building, and Temari tried to figure out the source.

Baki cursed. "That's Satetsu's house!"

"I'm going," Gaara said. Temari glanced back just in time to see the swirl of sand dissipating. There was a gust of wind, and Baki was gone also. It was disgusting how much chakra those two had.

"Come on," she snapped at her other brother, jumping out of the window. She landed in a crouch on the street and broke into a run, not bothering to see if Kankuro followed.

She reached the pile of rubble that had been Satetsu's home only a minute later, in time to catch the tail end of the fight. Gaara stood with his arms crossed in the middle of the street, sending sand crashing down from all directions at a cloaked figure.

There was a loud band, and the sand scattered, freeing the man, who jumped up onto a nearby rooftop. Temari wasn't able to stop from gasping. "Otokaze-sama?" she asked in disbelief. She wasn't sure he'd be a good Kazekage, but she couldn't imagine him stooping to this. She readied her fan.

Before she could strike, her teacher appeared behind the other man. "Blade of Wind," he intoned. His hand chopped at Otokaze's neck.

Otokaze laughed. "You're too late, Baki," he said, and then his form wavered for an instant before vanishing completely.

"Genjutsu," Baki snarled, jumping down to stand beside Gaara. Temari walked up to them, followed a second later by Kankuro.

"After he escaped my sand," Gaara said, then he turned his attention to the smoldering ruin, sending sand pouring into it, displacing piles of rubble. A few moments later, he pulled out a still form.

Temari paled as she saw the broken remains of Satetsu. This was incredibly bad. Baki knelt down as Gaara gently deposited the corpse on the ground, reaching out to close the eyes. "Ancestors watch over you," he whispered, then he stood. "Are there any survivors trapped in there, Gaara?" he asked loudly.

More ninja were starting to gather, attracted by the commotion.

"I am looking," Gaara said. Sand continued to pour through the rubble, snuffing out the small fires.

There was a slight thud, and Temari looked back to see Yuura landing behind her and Kankuro. "What happened, Baki?" the young council member asked. Then he seemed to notice Satetsu. "Ancestors, no," he said, his voice sick.

"I'm afraid so." Baki frowned, but before he could say anything, Gaara spoke.

"There." A hand of sand formed, lifting and pushing aside a large section of roof.

A woman stood, cradling a smaller form. More sand wrapped around her, picking the two up and bringing them out safely to the street.

"Kanon!" Yuura exclaimed. "You're safe!" The dark-haired woman nodded.

"Is Matsuri-chan," Baki began, looking at the girl in her arms.

"I put her to sleep with a genjutsu," Kanon said softly. "To help hide from him."

"I'm so sorry, Kanon," Yuura said. "I… Otokaze had said some things, but I didn't think… I'm sorry." Temari swallowed. He'd been Otokaze's biggest supporter on the council, hadn't he?

Kanon glanced down at her husband's body, visibly steeling herself. "I'm sure you would have stopped him if you'd known."

Baki nodded firmly. "Yuura," he said commandingly. "Get to the gates and seal them. Send teams to all the secret entrances. We don't want Otokaze getting away."

"Of course," Yuura said, and then he was gone.

Kanon placed her daughter on the ground, then knelt beside her husband, her eyes wet with unshed tears. "Why?" she asked.

"Damn," Kankuro said quietly.

"I don't know," Baki said. "It doesn't make any sense."

Kanon stood, her eyes suddenly dry. "I don't understand why Yuura would be working to frame Otokaze."

Temari blinked. "Wait, what?"

The woman gave her a look like this was the academy and Temari was a slow student. "Otokaze and Satetsu are…" She paused for a moment, and Temari winced in sympathy. "They were close friends. He would never have done this. Even if things had secretly gotten that bad, he's far too smart to do something this counterproductive." She paused again. "And he would never have tried to kill me or Matsuri. Never."

"I know," Baki rumbled. "Damn it, what's Yuura up to?"

"Umm… not to doubt your expertise," Kankuro said, "but those sure looked like Otokaze's techniques."

Kanon grimaced. "That I can't explain," she said. "But it wasn't him."

Baki nodded to himself. "I think I know who. Temari, Kankuro, Gaara."

"Sir?" Temari asked, standing up straighter.

"One of you get to Otokaze's apartment. Quickly, before anyone else thinks to look there. Chiyo is going to play stupid and push this for all its worth, damn her. Find him, get him hidden. I don't care where. Then get me Jiraiya. I don't care what Sarutobi-san says, get him. And someone get a protective detail on the Rock in case someone decides to stir up more trouble."

"Yes, sir," Kankuro said, breaking into a run. "I'll hit the Rock."

"Otokaze," Gaara said, vanishing in a whirl of sand.

Temari took a deep breath before racing off in the direction of the Leaf's guest house. When she took a look back, she saw Kanon breaking down, Baki awkwardly placing a hand on her shoulder. Temari's face hardened, and she increased her speed. She wanted some answers herself.

* * *

><p><strong>Week Eight<strong>

Sakura was woken from her morning nap by a loud knocking on the door to her bedroom. Yawning, she rubbed at her eyes with her good hand, then said, "Come in!"

The door opened and Shizune stepped inside. "Hello, Sakura-chan," she said calmly as Hinata followed her into the room. "I hear you got into a bit of trouble."

"Shizune-sama!" Sakura exclaimed. "I didn't know you were coming today." She nodded her head at Hinata. "Hinata-san." The Hyuuga heiress nodded back.

"I just arrived not ten minutes ago. Sorry for taking so long," Shizune said. "I was on a mission when Jiraiya-sama's message arrived, and it took a while longer to arrange everything." She walked up to Sakura's bedside and pulled the covers aside.

"Did Hokage-sama say whether… my father would be able to come?" Hinata asked as Shizune started to examine Sakura.

"With the situation as it is, he didn't feel that was wise," Shizune answered. She probed Sakura's stomach, and the younger woman barely flinched. "Jiraiya-sama did a good job with this," Shizune said, "but let's finish it up, shall we?" Her hands glowed green for a moment.

Sakura shivered, then took a deep, pain free breath. She had almost forgotten what that felt like. "Thank you, Shizune-sama," she said.

Shizune smiled and lightly hit the top of her head. "I've told you before, there's no need to call me that. We're both Tsunade-sama's students."

Sakura flushed. "Yes, Shizune-sempai," she said, and Shizune's smile widened a moment before vanishing.

"Now the arm," she said, lifting up Sakura's injured arm. "Hinata-chan, if you don't mind."

The other girl formed a seal. "Byakugan!" She paused. "It… it looks better than before, I think. Maybe it is healing on its own?" She fiddled with her hands. "I'm not a medical ninja."

"So long as you don't see any fire chakra still pooled in it," Shizune said. "That would be bad." Hinata shook her head, and Shizune laid Sakura's bad arm back down on the bed. She pointed at a spot on Sakura's forearm. "Is this where the damage is worst?"

Hinata hesitated. "I… think so?"

Shizune nodded. "This is going to hurt, Sakura-chan," she stated. Sakura steeled herself, then gave Shizune a slight nod. The older woman placed her hands on Sakura's arm. They began to glow a deep, bright green that hurt to look at.

Then Sakura was biting back a scream, and her vision wavered from pain. It hurt worse than she'd hurt injuring her arm in the first place, and it seemed to last forever. Then Shizune briefly flooded the arm with cool, soothing chakra, before removing her hands. "There," she said, wiping sweat from her brow. "Hinata-chan, if you'd confirm for me?"

"It… it looks normal now, Shizune-sama," Hinata said, a little awe in her voice. She relaxed her eyes.

Sakura flexed the arm, making a fist. She felt a little sore, but otherwise normal. "Thank you, Shizune-sempai," she said.

Shizune smiled. "You won't be thanking me once I pass on Tsunade-sama's lecture," she warned. "Hold off on using fire element techniques for another day or so, but you're otherwise good to go. It was already healed most of the way, thanks to time and Jiraiya-sama."

Sakura nodded, but the mention of Tsunade's reaction made her pale. Her teacher was not going to pleased that Sakura had kept trying to develop a technique she had rejected as too dangerous, much less that Sakura had actually tried to use it in combat. Maybe her anger would die down before Sakura made it back to the Leaf Village. Maybe.

"All right," Shizune said. "We're going to leave you to get dressed. Join us downstairs as soon as you can; we've got a lot to talk about."

Sakura nodded again, and as soon as Shizune and Hinata left she almost leaped out of bed. She had the blurry, fragmented memories of the shadow replications she'd made to train with Naruto, but that was different than actually getting to move about on her own. She found her uniform neatly folded away in her dresser and quickly clothed herself. When she stepped out the door, putting on her fingerless gloves, she found Naruto waiting outside in the hallway.

He grinned at her. "Now we can really get started with training," he said.

Sakura snorted. "Give me a little while first, idiot. I still need to take it kind of easy."

"Come on," Naruto said, heading for the stairs. "Everyone's waiting."

Everyone was indeed gathered in the front room. Jiraiya glanced up at Sakura as she came down the stairs. "I told you Shizune-chan would have you fixed in no time," he said cheerfully.

Chouji smiled at her from where he sat on the couch next to Asuma, who snuffed out his cigarette. "Good to see you well, Sakura-chan," he said. Leaning on the wall, Kurenai just gave her a slight nod.

Someone had pulled the chairs from the kitchen into the room, and Sakura and Naruto sat down on two of them. Unfortunately, this put Sakura next to Ami, but the purple-haired girl thankfully didn't say anything.

Standing at the front of the room, Shizune coughed, getting everyone's attention. "First things first," she said briskly. "By order of Hokage-sama, I am taking over as her representative for the Chuunin Exams and taking command of this mission." She paused, glancing at Sakura. "This isn't any sort of judgment on you, Sakura-chan," she said, "it's just that -"

Sakura cut her off with a wave of her healed hand, a slight thrill passing through her at the easy movement. "I understand, Shizune-sama," she said. "The situation is much more volatile than we expected."

"Yes, about that," Shizune said. "Anyone want to explain why the Sand have the whole village on lock-down and wouldn't let my ANBU escorts into the country? I didn't think things were that bad."

Everyone shifted, and Sakura realized they were all looking at her. "Damn it," she said, "I was in bed when it happened, even if I was technically in command. You report it, Asuma-sensei. I'm not taking responsibility for this mess."

Kurenai chuckled, and Asuma sighed. "This doesn't sound good," Shizune said worriedly.

Jiraiya stood. "I'll explain," he said shortly. He ignored Asuma's muttered thanks. "You're familiar with what we've reported regarding the three factions at work here, Shizune-chan?"

"Of course," Shizune said. "Otokaze of the Explosion leads a faction favoring a strengthening of the Sand's alliance with us. Satetsu of the Bleeding Crow favors an alliance with the Rock. And Chiyo of the Red Sand opposes both alliances."

"Good enough," Jiraiya said. "Until a few days ago."

"What happened?" Shizune asked.

"Satetsu of the Bleeding Crow was assassinated," Jiraiya said shortly, "by a man witnesses identified as Otokaze of the Explosion."

Shizune cursed. "Why was he so stupid?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Come on out," he commanded. There was suddenly a new presence in the kitchen that Sakura hadn't felt before, and Otokaze walked into the front room.

"I apologize for the inconvenience," he said, bowing slightly to Shizune. "I am Otokaze."

Shizune stared at him. "I can see why no one wanted to take responsibility," she said angrily. "Why the hell are you idiots hiding him?"

"Easy, easy, Shizune-chan," Jiraiya began.

"It was not me that killed Satetsu," Otokaze explained. "He was my friend."

"It doesn't matter," Shizune snapped. "If you're found here -"

"Nothing will happen," Jiraiya said. "We're keeping him here at the request of the head of the Sand's Council of Elders. I agreed to it under my authority."

"Why?" Shizune asked. Sakura leaned forward curiously. She hadn't gotten a straight answer from him about that.

Jiraiya glanced around. "There's too many people here," he said. "Let's deal with anything else public first."

Shizune nodded. "That's all for now, unless someone else has some bombshells to drop on me."

Suzume Namida stood from where she had been sitting quietly. "Ami-chan, Fuki-chan, Shinta-kun," she said to her team. "We have the training ground this morning. Let's go use it."

As they trooped out, Jiraiya looked around. "Okay," he said. "Akimichi-kun, Hyuuga-kun," he said. "I'm afraid I need to ask you to leave us for a few minutes. This isn't something you need to know about."

Kurenai stood away from the wall. "Asuma-san will inform me if you say anything new," she said. "Hinata-chan, Chouji-kun. We can't use the training ground, but I can work with you on genjutsu defenses upstairs." She led the two genin out of the room.

Jiraiya sighed as he looked around, then sat on the couch next to Asuma. Otokaze gave Naruto and Sakura a look. "Should those two be here?" he asked

"Naruto deserves to know, and he'd just tell Sakura-chan," Jiraiya explained. He glanced at Shizune and the Sand ninja. "Have a seat, you two." He smiled suddenly. "There's another reason for Sakura-chan to be here, anyway. If you don't mind?" he asked the pink-haired girl. It took her a moment to figure out what he meant, then she formed seals and activated her anti-eavesdropping genjutsu.

"All right," Shizune said as she sat down next to Sakura. "What's this about? It isn't like you to get unnecessarily involved in this kind of mess, Jiraiya-sama."

"I don't think this assassination was about Sand politics," Jiraiya said simply. "It was probably Akatsuki."

Naruto stirred. "What?"

"Why do you think that?" Shizune asked.

Otokaze answered her. "The assassin was able to imitate my distinctive explosive techniques," he said. "Jiraiya-sama and I briefly fought a member of that organization who used similar techniques."

"I was there too," Naruto interjected. "That guy… Deidara?"

Otokaze nodded. "Indeed."

Shizune buried her face in her hand. "That's just what I need," she said. She looked at Naruto, then at Jiraiya.

"If Otokaze-kun doesn't know by now, he's stupid," Jiraiya said.

Otokaze glanced at Naruto. "I assume I am in the presence of the host of the demon fox Kyuubi."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, and unthinkingly Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand. He gave her a weak smile before answering. "Right," he said.

"Why are you still here?" Shizune asked Jiraiya bluntly. "If they're poking around looking for Naruto, you should never have entered these exams in the first place."

"Because I don't think they are after Naruto this time," Jiraiya answered. "At least not this Deidara." He glanced at Sakura. "You look like you want to say something."

Sakura hesitated before asking her question. "I… I haven't been fully briefed on… on Akatsuki," she said. "I know they're after… they're after Naruto, but not much else. What motive would they have to get involved in the power struggle here?" she asked.

Otokaze nodded to her. "I suspect that the target this time is Gaara of the Desert," he said. "Or rather, Shukaku."

At Sakura's blank look, Naruto whispered to her, "That's the name of… the demon," he said. Sakura nodded in understanding.

Otokaze continued. "Thanks to… certain incidents, Chiyo has been advocating extracting the demon from Gaara-kun," he said, "but Satetsu and I had been blocking her." He grimaced. "Now we are both out of the picture," he continued. "I expect that Akatsuki plans to take the demon once it is extracted and stored in its vessel."

"Vessel?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya sighed. "A tea kettle," he said simply. "Don't ask."

"Is there any immediate danger to Gaara-kun?" Shizune asked.

Otokaze shook his head. "Baki tells me Chiyo's backed off some," he said. "She isn't interested in dancing to anyone's tune, and she's too smart not to realize a new player is manipulating things."

Shizune frowned. "It sounds like it's still Akatsuki's move," she said unhappily. "You're keeping Otokaze hidden so they won't realize we're on to them, but we don't have any leads."

"We know, or at least suspect," Jiraiya said, "that this Deidara is active in the Sand Village," he said, "and we have a lead on someone we think is their agent on the Sand's council."

Otokaze grimaced. "I can't believe Yuura would be a traitor."

"You'll have to explain how you know that later," Shizune said. "I begged off to see to Sakura-chan, but I need to go meet with the council myself as soon as possible to formally take over as Tsunade-sama's representative for the exams."

Jiraiya nodded. "Have fun, Shizune-chan," he said cheerfully.

"Watch out for Chiyo, Shizune-sempai," Sakura added. "She's holding some sort of grudge against Shishou."

"Thanks for the warning," Shizune said, standing. She sighed. "I can already tell I'm going to have to earn this A-rank pay, aren't I?"

* * *

><p>"Did we really just do that?" Sakura asked Naruto, her voice shaking a little.<p>

Naruto laughed. "That's not even the biggest one we've made," he said happily. "Don't you remember the time we almost hit Ero-sennin?" Jiraiya had made him spend the whole next day working on reducing the strength of his wind techniques, but it had totally been worth it.

"Oh yeah," Sakura said. "I guess I do." She shook her head. "Shadow replications are weird. How did you wind up learning a technique like that before we were genin, anyway?"

Naruto blinked. He never had told anyone about what had happened with Mizuki after he'd failed the graduation exam, had he? "Eh, it's sort of a long story," he said. "I'll tell you some other time."

"Okay," Sakura said easily. "Again?" she asked Jiraiya, watching them safely from behind.

The legendary ninja frowned. "It took you two four tries to get the timing right," he said, "and we're not really making much progress on control. I was hoping more of the training we did with your replications would carry over."

"Sorry," Sakura said. "It's… I remember, but it's not the same."

"Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "We'll have this down again in no time."

"It's fine," Jiraiya agreed. "Like you said, Sakura-chan, shadow replications are weird. Useful, but weird." He smirked. "You should have seen this idiot when he tried to use them to train on five different things in one day."

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto protested, wincing at the reminder of that. Thanks to mixed-up memories, he'd tried performing the Fireball Technique with earth-natured chakra, which turned out to fail in a particularly embarrassing way. Sometimes he thought that incident was why he'd never really succeeded in learning fire element ninjutsu.

The back door to the guest house creaked open, and Asuma stuck his head through. "Is it safe to come out?" he asked. "Or are they still making uncontrolled firestorms?"

"What do you want, Sarutobi?" Jiraiya asked bluntly.

"We have… guests, Jiraiya-sama," Asuma said. "I would have turned them away, but they mentioned a certain organization and said they had word for you."

"Who?" Jiraiya asked.

"Kitakami Ichizo and Rui," Asuma replied. "From Snow Country." Naruto blinked. He'd almost forgotten they were in the Sand Village for the exams, with everything that had been going on since the second exam. Why were they talking to Jiraiya about Akatsuki?

"Send them on back here," Jiraiya said.

Asuma nodded and left, and a few minutes later the two ninja from the Snow Country entered the training ground. Naruto waved at them. "Ichizo-san, Rui-san!"

The girl nodded back at Naruto, but her brother had eyes only for Jiraiya. "I've received word back from the clan, Jiraiya-sama," he said without any introduction. "We've confirmed that it isn't just an agent. There's an Akatsuki member active in Snow Country, or at least someone wearing their cloak."

"Either way, someone to be concerned about," Jiraiya said. "Who?"

"We don't know," Ichizo said with a grimace. "He's not one of the three we met; second-hand reports are that he wears a marred Rain forehead protector. We don't have a good description yet, unfortunately."

"Do you have any description at all?" Jiraiya asked. "You must have something if you know what sign he wears."

Ichizo pulled out a scroll and handed it to Jiraiya, but Naruto was distracted from his initial impulse to go over for a look when Rui walked up to him and Sakura. He smiled at the girl in the white kimono, and she smiled back. "Naruto-san, it's good to see you again." She nodded to Sakura. "You too, Sakura-san." Sakura gave the other girl a polite smile, but didn't say anything.

"Are you training hard for the finals?" Naruto asked her. "Who are you fighting anyway? I forgot."

Rui smirked. "I am somehow unsurprised," she said, drawing a glower from Naruto. She laughed. "I am fighting Tomari-san from the Sand, and then either you or Hyuuga-san from your village in the second round."

"We do have plenty of copies of the tournament bracket, Naruto," Sakura reminded him.

"Eh, whatever," Naruto said with a shrug.

"So, what kind of training have you been doing?" Rui asked.

"Sakura-chan and I have been working on using my wind element ninjutsu to power up her fire element," Naruto explained happily. "You should have seen it!"

Sakura sighed. "You realize that she's trying to get an advantage if you fight," she said.

Naruto looked her. "Well, yeah," he said. "But our training really doesn't matter for that. It's not like you can fight with me in the finals."

"I suppose not," Sakura said. She suddenly snickered. "Unless I transformed my shadow replication into a dog and we convinced them you were secretly an Inuzuka."

Naruto laughed. "That'd be hilarious!"

Rui smiled slightly, but then her face turned serious. "So you use wind element techniques?" When Naruto nodded, she continued. "I seem to recall that your uncle… err, Jiraiya-sama, was teaching you water element techniques when you traveled with us."

"That's right," Naruto said with another nod. "I'm not super-good at them, but I know a couple."

Rui nodded herself, glancing back at where her brother and Jiraiya were talking quietly. "I'm guessing that there is a chance that you and Jiraiya-sama may be returning with us to Snow Country after the exams," she said. "If that is so… I, we owe you a great debt, Naruto-san. If you are interested, I may be able to arrange for you to receive training in ice element techniques while you are in our country."

Naruto's eyes widened. "That'd be awesome!" he said. "Thanks!"

He suddenly stumbled forward as Sakura lightly punched the back of his head. "Be more polite," she said. "That's an extremely generous offer." She looked at Rui. "Exceedingly generous."

"I owe Naruto-san a lot," Rui said weakly. "Our whole country does."

Naruto could feel his cheeks heating. "It wasn't that big a deal," he muttered. "I was just trying to get back together with Ero-sennin."

"And in the process you helped me defeat the missing ninja who destroyed the Snow Village," Rui stated. Naruto just shuffled his feet at that. Anyone would have done that.

"Rui-san," Sakura said, "speaking of ice element techniques… there's a question that's been bothering me for a while, since I learned more about elemental ninjutsu." She paused. "Don't feel like you have to answer."

"I understand," Rui said. "Ask. I won't be offended."

"From what I've read," Sakura said, "elements beyond the common five are extremely difficult to master, barring special cases like Bloodline Limits. It takes jounin-level stamina and chakra control. But from my understanding of the history, the entire Snow Village was specialized in ice element techniques." She paused. "Based on Naruto's story," she said quietly, "you must have been extremely skilled."

"Rui-san's ice techniques are awesome!" Naruto exclaimed.

"They were," Rui said darkly.

Naruto blinked. "Rui-san?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

She sighed. "I suppose Jiraiya-sama never told you what I explained to him," she said. "I can no longer use ice element techniques."

Naruto swallowed. "Why not?"

"It is… tied up in the answer to Sakura-san's question," Rui answered hesitatingly, "which is… was… will be a secret of the Hidden Snow Village."

"I apologize for asking, then," Sakura said.

Rui shook her head. "Do not," she said. "And Naruto-san already knows the answer, anyway."

"I do?" Naruto searched his memory. "Oh, the thing with the snow maidens."

"The thing?" Sakura asked.

Rui snickered. "The Snow Village signed a contract with the snow maidens," she said. "Under that, they granted all of the Snow ninja the ability to easily use ice element ninjutsu." Her face turned dark. "When that contract was broken, so was the strength of the Snow Village."

"I see," Sakura said.

"To answer your question, Naruto-san," Rui continued. "Part of the price of my own contract with the snow maidens was that, once my grandmother was dead, I would lose all ability to use ice element techniques."

"Oh," Naruto said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Rui replied. "I made the contract with both eyes open."

Jiraiya and Ichizo seemed to be finishing their discussion. "Those are the things I think he might be looking for," Jiraiya was saying, "and all of them are troublesome."

"Tell me about it," Ichizo said. "Any help I can provide, I will give." His hand went up to brush the hilt of the massive sword strapped to his back. "You may recall that the Kitakami are good at holding grudges."

Jiraiya nodded. "You know how dangerous this organization is, Ichizo-san. Don't take stupid risks."

Ichizo nodded. "Thank you for seeing me, and sharing what you know."

"Likewise," Jiraiya replied.

Rui smiled at Naruto and Sakura. "I should be going, then," she said. "Good luck with your training."

"You too!" Naruto replied.

"I'll see you two out," Jiraiya said, and he lead the two ninja from Snow back into the guest house.

"Should we try that technique again?" Sakura asked Naruto.

His mind was on something else. "You know, Sakura-chan," he said, "I hadn't really thought about it, since I've been busy, but there's a lot of people we know in the exams that I haven't really had a chance to talk to." He paused. "Like the team from Rock," he said. "You met them in Rice Field Country, right? And we both know the team from Waterfall too."

"A little, I guess," Sakura said.

Naruto paused, then said. "I'd like to go talk to them. The Waterfall in particular, although the Rock also."

"Why?"

"The third member of their team," Naruto said. "Fuu."

Sakura shuddered. "I talked to her a little. She was… creepy. And she hurt Rui-san's teammate, didn't she?"

"Yes," Naruto said. He hesitated, then added. "I think she's like me," he said. "Or Gaara."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh."

"I need to talk to her," Naruto said. "We should go out to see them, once we're done training. And we can go see the Rock too." He grinned. "I want to see if Akira has a chance of making it far enough that I can beat him up."

"That's a really, really bad idea," Sakura told Naruto firmly. "We can't just go running all over the Sand Village. Even if Jiraiya-sama went crazy and let you go, Asuma-sensei would have a heart attack about me."

Naruto shrugged. "Shizune-neechan took over, didn't she? There's no reason for anyone to try to kill you any more." Right? "And if anyone tries I'll beat them up too!"

"Idiot," Sakura replied. "Just because… look, there's still at least three different reasons why whoever it is might still try to get me. And you…" she trailed off, glancing around.

"So what?" Naruto asked. "I can't stay locked away for the rest of my life. I'm not going to be scared of them."

There was a puff of smoke, and Jiraiya appeared perched on top of one of the training ground's abused boulders. "What are you two arguing about?" he asked.

"Naruto wants us to go visit his friends in the Rock team," Sakura answered, "and the Waterfall."

"Fuu, huh?" Jiraiya asked. Naruto nodded, and the legendary ninja looked thoughtful for a minute. "Good idea, Naruto," he said. "I approve."

Beside him, Sakura twitched. "What?" she asked loudly. "It's dangerous! There are… people after him! He can't just -"

"And you too," Jiraiya agreed easily with a smile. "But don't worry about it. I'll guard you, and then we can only hope that our enemies are dumb enough to try something in broad daylight in the heart of a Hidden Village." His grin turned nasty. "And I won't be dumb enough to just send a shadow replication either."

"Asuma-sensei," Sakura protested weakly, but Jiraiya interrupted her again.

"I'll handle Sarutobi," he replied. "That young fool is over-reacting because he wasn't paranoid enough before. At this point, he's almost endangering the mission by offending our hosts."

Less than half an hour later, Naruto was walking with Sakura down the streets of the Sand Village, heading for the guest house where the Rock team was staying first, on Jiraiya's advice. He couldn't feel his teacher's presence, but he trusted him when he said that he would follow them.

Someone came running out of a side street, and it took Naruto half an instant to recognize her. "Temari-san," Sakura said in greeting, and Naruto echoed her a moment later.

"Uzumaki-san, Sakura-san," the fan user said as she fell in beside them. "Is something wrong?" Her eyes went to the direction they were traveling in.

"No," Sakura said.

"We're just seeing some friends," Naruto added.

"Friends? The Rock?" Temari asked.

"Sure," Naruto replied.

The Sand kunoichi looked at Sakura. She sighed. "It's true," the pink-haired girl said. "Naruto trained with that genin team in Earth Country."

"Really?" Temari asked, giving Naruto a strange look. "That's unusual."

"Ero-sennin has lots of friends," Naruto replied. "I've trained in Earth Country, and in the Cloud Village, and here in Wind Country with the Howling Moon Tribe. And lots of other places too."

"Somehow I won't be surprised if it turns out you trained with the Mist too," Temari muttered.

Naruto shook his head. "Ero-sennin said that the Mist were paranoid, xenophobic idiots."

"Not idiotic enough," Sakura said darkly.

Temari suddenly slapped her fingers. "That reminds me," she said. "I'd been meaning to ask you, Sakura-san. After that bingo book entry from the Rock for you got spread around -" She paused as Sakura groaned, and Temari grinned. "Sorry, but I took a look at ours for you also."

"Hey," Naruto interjected, "have you got an entry for me?"

"Nope," Temari said cheerfully. Then her face stilled, and she added more seriously. "Gaara didn't… we didn't spread the details of your fight."

Naruto frowned as he considered this. "I understand," he said after a moment. "Thanks." He felt Sakura place a hand on his shoulder, and he smiled at her.

She smiled back and released him. "You said you had a question for me?"

"Yeah," Temari said. "Your entry referenced the exams where you passed, and I took a look at those to see who else I know from the… you know, passed. The finals had another Haruno in them, listed as from the Mist. Was that a mistake, or what?"

Sakura's face fell, and Naruto winced. "Haruno Midori. Not a mistake," she said simply.

"Oh," Temari said. "Missing ninja's kid?"

Sakura clenched her fists, and now it was Naruto's turn to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That would be me. Sort of," she said bluntly. Naruto knew her mother hadn't been a missing ninja, but a Mist spy. He could more than understand why Sakura didn't want to go into that, though.

"Oh," Temari said. She opened her mouth as though she was about to say something, then shook her head and shut it.

They traveled the rest of the distance in silence, and when they reached the Rock's guest house, Kankuro was sitting in front of the door. "They're training down the street," he said as he stood, leaning on the head of his wrapped puppet for a moment before slinging it onto his back. "I'll lead the way."

The route passed by the Sand's academy, where Naruto had taken the first exam, and a short distance away they found the Rock team at a training ground. Inside, Gonkuro was sparring with a grim-faced Sand kunoichi Naruto vaguely remembered from the preliminary fights. Hadn't she been the one to eliminate him?

The Rock jounin was standing with the rest of her team, watching the fight and conversing with a tall woman wearing a Sand forehead protector.

Temari paled as she saw the Sand woman. "Maybe this wasn't a great idea," she said, but before anyone else could say anything, one of the Rock genin turned to see them.

"Hey, it's Leaf boy," Akira said. He raised a fist. "Come to lose to me?" Naruto grimaced. Akira was really, really annoying.

The Rock jounin nodded to the two Sand escorting Naruto and Sakura, then turned to the Leaf ninja. "Haruno-san," she said. "I'm glad to see you healed."

"Thank you," Sakura murmured. "Your assistance was appreciated." In the distance, the spar came to a sudden halt.

She laughed. "It was nothing." She turned to Naruto. "Uzumaki Naruto, huh? I don't think we've formally met, but I think I spied you a couple times at Hojo's estate, and I've certainly heard enough stories about you." She smiled. "I am Kazu Kurotsuchi."

"Leaf boy," Mako, the kunoichi on her team," said suddenly. "You owe me a jacket."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"My favorite jacket," Mako explained. "You stole it from me when you left Hojo-sensei's place, remember?"

Naruto flushed. Was everyone going to remind him of that stupid disguise Jiraiya had made him use? "Sorry," he muttered.

The third member of their team walked up behind her and grunted. "Be polite, Mako-chan," Gonkuro chided, then favored Naruto with a nod. He'd always been the one paired with Naruto when they'd sparred in two person teams. They'd won almost every time, too.

The Sand woman who had been talking with Kurotsuchi frowned at Naruto and Sakura. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Sakura stepped forward, glancing at Naruto. "Naruto is friends with the Rock genin," she said, "and he wished to visit with them."

The woman nodded. "I am Kanon of the Bleeding Crow," she said simply.

Sakura winced. "I am sorry for your loss," she said.

The woman just shook her head slightly. "Matsuri and I will be going," she said to Kurotsuchi, and without further word she lead the Sand girl who'd been fighting Gonkuro from the training ground.

Kurotsuchi pulled out a stop watch. "You all have five minutes to catch up," she told her team. "If Uzumaki wants to stay longer, he'll have to join in the training."

Sakura gave Naruto a slight shake of her head, and he nodded back at her. He wasn't that stupid. He wound up chatting with the three Rock genin while Sakura talked about something with Kurotsuchi, and five minutes later Temari was leading them away, toward where the Waterfall team was staying.

"You look upset, Sakura-chan," Naruto commented.

She looked at him and sighed. "I guess," she said. "I just wish I knew whether that woman really thinks I am some sort of powerful jounin or is just mocking me." Temari laughed, and Sakura glared at her.

The Waterfall were staying in an apartment on the top floor of a building a fair distance from the center of the village, which Naruto didn't really think was fair when the Rock and Leaf had been given guest houses. What was up with that? Temari spoke briefly with a masked Sand ninja, then lead them to another training ground, smaller than the one Naruto had been using or the one where they'd just met the Rock.

The Waterfall team was taking a break, Maya and Ikkei sitting together and drinking water, but Naruto didn't pay attention to them, seeking out the third member of their team. The green-haired girl was seated, curled up into a ball, in one corner of the small training ground, staring at her teammates. Naruto took a step forward, but before he could go further a man in a Waterfall uniform appeared in front of them.

"I believe I recognize you two," he told Naruto and Sakura, "but I don't recall your names." It took Naruto a few moments to place him as the commander of the fort in Waterfall Country he and Jiraiya had briefly stayed at. "I am Matsuyo Nissho, jounin of the Hidden Waterfall."

Sakura introduced them, and asked, "Have we met?"

"I don't believe I've been introduced to you, Haruno-san," he said. "I was acting as jounin commander for Arata, Maya, and Ikkei in the exams where Arata-kun and you passed." He paused. "What do you two want?"

"We just wanted to stop by and say hello," Sakura replied.

The man nodded and stepped aside. Maya and Ikkei had stood and come over, and exchanged greetings with Naruto and Sakura. "Thanks for your help in the second exam, Naruto-san," Ikkei said. "I wonder what the real way to get those fangs was supposed to be."

Naruto shrugged. "Doesn't really matter," he said. Then he looked over at where Fuu still sat. Their eyes met for a moment. "Hey, Fuu-san," he called out. "Come over so I can say hello!" He didn't miss the nervous look that passed between Maya and Ikkei, and he guessed Sakura didn't either, because she took a step closer to him.

Fuu didn't move, instead looking over Naruto's shoulder. He glanced backward in time to see Nissho finishing a short nod. Fuu stood and walked over to join the conversation. "Hello, Fuu-san," Naruto said, smiling widely.

Fuu stared at him impassively. "Hello, Naruto-san," she said in reply. Naruto wondered if he should be feeling something from her. Then again, Gaara really didn't really feel any different from anyone when he was being… not evil.

Beside him, Sakura smiled too. "It is good to see you again, Fuu-san," she said, although Naruto thought it sounded a little forced.

A searching expression appeared on Fuu's face. "Sakura-san," she said finally. "Hello." She glanced past them again at Nissho. "They are still allies?"

"Yes," Maya answered quickly before her teacher could say anything.

Fuu nodded and turned to leave. "Hey, wait," Naruto protested. She paused.

"It's fine, Fuu," Nissho said. "Maya, Ikkei, take her back to the apartment."

"What?" Ikkei asked. "We're still supposed to be training until -"

"Go!" Nissho snapped. Naruto started to say something, but a look from Sakura stopped him. When the Waterfall team was gone, Nissho stepped in front of Naruto and Sakura again. He could feel Temari stir from where she'd been waiting outside the training ground. "Why are you so interested in Fuu… Jiraiya-sama?" he asked.

There was a puff of smoke, and Jiraiya appeared next to Naruto. "Hmm," he said. "You're more observant then you were when we met, I think," he said easily.

"You let me see you," Nissho said. "Now, answer me."

"If she is what I think she is," Jiraiya said, "there are things in motion you need to know about."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Jiraiya-sama," the Waterfall jounin said firmly, "and I must rejoin my team." He formed a seal, and then he was gone.

"Damn it," Jiraiya said.

"I barely even got to talk to her," Naruto complained.

"She doesn't like to talk," Sakura said. "And they don't seem inclined to let her learn how to."

"It's not right," Naruto said.

"It isn't," Jiraiya agreed. "Remember that if you ever wonder why the Third made the decisions he did." Naruto stared at his feet for a moment. Jiraiya sighed. "I'm sorry, brat," he said. "It was clear from the start they weren't going to let you talk to her alone. I was hoping maybe I could at least warn them about you know who."

"You think… they are after her too?" Sakura asked, her voice sick.

"It's possible," Jiraiya said.

"Who are you talking about?" Temari asked as she joined them.

"Ask your teacher. Or your brother," Jiraiya said. "They'll tell you if you need to know." He sighed. "Let's head on back."

Naruto grimaced as they started to leave. The whole point of this trip had been to get to talk to Fuu, and it had failed. He knew that she was like him, like he could have been. She maybe wasn't as bad as Gaara had been, but she was hurting. He wanted to help her. Jiraiya wanted to help her too. Why wouldn't they let him?

He could feel Sakura looking at him, and then she spoke. "Temari-san," she asked, "before we go back… is there anywhere nearby that sells ramen?"

Naruto looked up, and she smiled weakly at him. He forced a smile back at her. Ramen, that was always the answer. "It better be a good place," he said, forcing Fuu from his mind for the moment. "You won't believe how awful the stuff they call ramen up north is."

* * *

><p>At Jiraiya's urging, Shizune allowed Suzume Namida's team to utilize one of the other training grounds offered by the Sand. This greatly improved Sakura's mood, as the mousy-looking jounin kept her team, and most importantly Ami, out of the guest house almost all day long. The training ground attached to the house was still shared between Jiraiya and Kurenai. The legendary Sannin used it to train Sakura and Naruto in the mornings, before he headed off into the village to do whatever else it was he did. Sakura preferred not to think about that.<p>

Now that Shizune had taken over, Asuma worked with Chouji in the afternoon. Kurenai had her turn with Hinata after an early dinner. Tonight though, she and Asuma were away, guarding Shizune while she dined with someone it probably would have been Sakura's job to deal with before. It really was a relief, not having to worry about the politics anymore. Once she was done dealing with the dishes - it was her turn this evening - Sakura settled down with a biography of the First Kazekage that Otokaze had recommended, and made her way through a couple chapters before she thought to wonder what Hinata was doing, since Kurenai wasn't around to train with her.

She found Hinata out on the training ground, or rather, she found two of the Hyuuga heiress there. One of them stood behind a line of kunai, plunged into the ground, and was throwing them in a constant stream at the second. The target deflected each weapon with an open-palmed strike, and Sakura thought that she could see flashes of chakra in the gathering darkness as the second Hinata blocked the first's attacks. A variant on the Heavenly Spin?

Sakura waited at the edge of the training ground, knowing that the two Hinata could see her even if the other girls didn't turn to face her. After a moment, the Hinata that was attacking vanished in a puff of smoke. The real Hinata fell to her knees, panting heavily. "Sakura-san," she acknowledged once she had caught her breath, though she still didn't look directly at Sakura.

"Hinata-san," Sakura replied, stepping into the training ground. "You're training hard." Hinata didn't reply. "What were you working on?"

The other girl didn't answer at first, then said shortly, "Endurance training." She paused, then added, "I want to be able to use Shadow Replication Technique well without a soldier pill."

"It looked like you were working on some sort of defense too," Sakura commented.

Now Hinata turned her head to look at Sakura, her silver eyes hard. "N… Naruto-kun doesn't need… your help to beat me."

Sakura winced. She'd always felt that Hinata didn't like her very much, but she didn't think she deserved that sort of suspicion. "I wasn't trying to spy on you," Sakura replied, struggling a little to keep her voice calm.

"Then what do you want, Sakura-san? I don't have time to waste."

"I just wanted to see if you wanted someone to spar with or anything," Sakura answered. "Since Kurenai-sensei had to go with Shizune-sama this evening."

Hinata looked away. "I don't have time to waste getting beaten up either."

Sakura blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?" she asked. "I'm not some sort of bully. I just want to help, if I can." She paused. "Besides, the last time we sparred, you trounced me." That was not an experience she fondly remembered.

"And a month later, you almost beat Neji-niisan in the exam finals," Hinata said quietly. "And you've kept getting stronger and stronger since then. I've watched you train with Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun.

"I'm not like you, Sakura-san," Hinata continued before Sakura could reply. "You managed to change yourself. You've become so strong, you train with the Sannin, and… and… Naruto-kun sees you and… I'm not… I can't…" She trailed off, and Sakura tried to think of something to say to that, but before she could Hinata spoke again. "My… my father asks after you sometimes."

"What? Why?" Sakura asked, surprised at both the sudden change of subject and Hinata's words. Had she ever even met Hinata's father? She supposed she must have seen him about the Hokage's office from time to time, but she didn't think they'd ever been formally introduced.

"You… you're the Hokage's apprentice," Hinata said, "and unattached to any clan, and father knows you get along with Neji-niisan when you work together." She slowly stood, her fists clenched, but she still didn't face Sakura. "You… you are probably someone he would not mind becoming part of the Hyuuga Clan, if it could be arranged."

Sakura's mind reeled at that. A marriage into the Leaf's most powerful clan? Ridiculous, even if she thought of Neji like that. Hinata kept talking, her voice getting louder as she continued. "But I'm always too weak," she said. "No matter how much I change or how hard I work. I'm never like Neji-niisan, or Hanabi, or you, or… N-Naruto-kun. I'm never good enough. I'm always the failure." She shook. "I have to do better this time. Or -" She cut off.

"This… this isn't just about the exams," Sakura said after a moment. "Is it?"

Hinata bowed her head. "No," she said softly. "You… you know about the branch family," she said, "and their seal?"

"Yes," Sakura replied quietly. She swallowed. "If… if you don't pass this time, then…"

"I think so," Hinata said. "I've… I've already failed too many times. Against Neji-niisan the first time. Against you and Ino-san the second. Against Shino-kun last time, in Grass." Even though she didn't turn around, Sakura could almost feel Hinata grimace. "To fail as a rookie, against the greatest prodigy the Hyuuga have produced in generations, is acceptable." Her voice had changed, and Sakura thought she might be quoting her father. "To fail a second time can be understood. To fail, publicly, a third time, is a disappointment. To fail a fourth time, is unacceptable for the heir to the Hyuuga." The last words were almost spat out, an anger alien to Sakura's usual perception of Hinata as a quiet, polite girl filling them.

"Hinata-san," Sakura began, but she couldn't find any more words to say.

"That's why I have to do better this time," Hinata said. "I have to show him that I'm not a failure. I have to -" She cut off, her head snapping up.

Sakura tensed. "What is it?"

"They're back," Hinata said. "Baki-san is with them. He's very upset. Something is going on." She paused. "You should go."

"Hinata-san, I…" Sakura wasn't sure what she should say.

"Go," Hinata insisted, and Sakura took the excuse and went. A few minutes later, the awkward conversation was driven from her mind when Baki explained what had happened.

"Gaara's been poisoned," he stated bluntly once the group concerned with Akatsuki had gathered in the kitchen and Sakura had used her anti-eavesdropping technique. "With a fatal Leaf poison, according to Chiyo-sama. She's moving to extract immediately, and I'm not going to be able to hold her off for much longer."

"What?" Naruto asked. Leaning against a wall in the corner of the room next to him, Jiraiya just cursed.

Otokaze, seated next to Sakura, looked like he wanted to kill someone. "She wouldn't go that far, would she? To force an extraction?"

"I don't know if it was her," Baki said, "or Yuura. Or this Deidara." He paused. "Technically, I don't know if it was any of you, either."

"What the hell are you saying?" Naruto demanded. "Gaara's my friend. We wouldn't -"

"Easy, brat," Jiraiya said, and Naruto calmed himself.

A thought occurred to Sakura. "Did… did Chiyo say what the poison was?"

"Night lotus extract," Baki answered. "Why?"

Asuma snuffed out a cigarette on the countertop. "That's the one she asked you about, isn't it, Sakura-chan?" he asked. "At that party before the exams started." Sakura nodded.

"Night lotus extract?" Shizune asked. "We haven't used that for decades."

"Well, someone is using it," Baki said sourly. "Do you know the antidote?"

"There isn't one," Shizune said. "At least, not an effective simple one. That's part of why we stopped using it. Too many accidents on our side that the medical ninja couldn't get to quickly enough. But this isn't a battlefield. If it's night lotus extract, I know the treatment."

"Will you help him?" Baki asked.

"Of course," Shizune said, standing.

"Good. Chiyo will bark at us, but I'll handle her. If you can save Gaara-kun, it'll shut her up for a while. I'll take you to where we're keeping him."

"There's no time to waste," Shizune said. "Sakura-chan, with me."

The pink-haired girl stood. "Yes, Shizune-sempai."

* * *

><p>Chiyo stared at the ruin of what had been her surgical puppet with mild annoyance. It would be the work of weeks to repair the device, and longer if she decided to reinforce it to better withstand dangers like the uncontrolled sandstorm raging around the fallen container. The sample she'd sacrificed her tool to get was almost as useless as the wreckage, too, except for identifying the primary poison. Damn that slug woman and all her work, and that cursed extract most of all. She hated that poison enough that she'd sabotage her own desires and save the container if she could.<p>

Was that why the Leaf had done this? She couldn't very well save its life and then demand that the council let her destroy it a week later. Even with Otokaze and Satetsu out of the picture, that would make her a laughingstock on the council. A ninja, a Kage, should be ruthless enough to do what had to be done, even if it meant letting a patient die, and the container was no innocent patient. She should never have let her interest in this poison show to the pink-haired slug girl.

She ignored the hiss as the sand struck the sickly green light of the barrier surrounding the bed that the container was secured on and the grunts of exertion from the six chuunin maintaining it. This room and its seal-work were over a century old, designed by the Second Kazekage to provide a place where Shukaku's host could safely sleep. She had no worries that it would suddenly fail.

What did worry the old woman was sorting out the Leaf's motives. It didn't make any sense. They should be eager for the container who had so provoked them to be out of the picture, and for Shukaku to be unavailable for years. The poison was too slow-acting to be an honest attempt to destroy the container with the demon still inside it. Either they were trying to force her to save the container, or they had chosen a particularly stupid way of helping her muster the votes for the extraction. They could have just leaned on Otokaze after the container had tried to kill the slug girl and she would have held her nose and cooperated with them to do it. So that probably wasn't the motive.

But if they wanted to save the container, why? They had no reason to wish that. Unless… the old Kazekage's children had always been somewhat evasive about how the container had been defeated during the failed invasion of the Leaf Village. Had the Leaf somehow suborned the container?

Chiyo glanced through the barrier at the container's shaking form, horror gnawing at her gut. If it was obedient to the Leaf, if the rivalry with the slug girl was a sham or an artifact of some hold she held over the container… then the Leaf had been keeping the deadliest of weapons right over the Sand Village's heart for over a year, patiently waiting for the Sand to try to assert their independence. If that was the case, if the container was compromised, the demon had to be extracted immediately.

The doors to the chamber opened, and Chiyo felt her face harden as Baki stormed inside, followed closely behind by the two slug girls. The young one looked about in a decent imitation of awe. Chiyo ignored her, focusing her ire on the temporary head of the council. "What's the meaning of this, Baki?" she demanded.

"Shizune-dono knows the treatment for this night lotus extract," Baki answered. "She has agreed to help Gaara-kun." His eyes narrowed. "As the boy's guardian," he said, "and as the head of the Council of Elders, I have accepted her aid. Do not interfere."

"She can tell me the treatment," Chiyo answered, keeping her voice calm, but her mind was racing. If the slug girls cured the container, it would save it for now, but it wouldn't tie her hands like it would if she was the one to cure it. What was the meaning of this? Might the Leaf not be behind the poisoning? Were they honestly just trying to save the container? Nonsense!

"I am afraid the treatment is too complex to be taught quickly, Chiyo-dono," the older, dark-haired slug girl answered. "And it involves several secret medical techniques of the Leaf Village. Night lotus extract is not a trivial poison to treat."

"I'm well aware of that," Chiyo snapped. "Do you even know how many of our ninja I watched die under my care thanks to your master?" Her only son and his wife, dead before their time, leaving her with her young grandson. Her greatest failure.

"That was then," Shizune replied calmly. "This is now. I will save his life, if I can. Hokage-sama would do the same if she were here." Chiyo let out a disbelieving grunt, but Shizune ignored that. "Do you have an analysis of the poison?" she asked. "It has been many years since the Leaf used night lotus extract, and I am not sure how age might have effected it." Implying that it was someone with a captured sample from the war that did the poisoning. The slug girl was clever, to reflect suspicion back on Chiyo.

The old woman grunted, and gestured at the rickety wooden desk in a corner of the room, where she'd left her notes. The slug girls bowed to her - what arrogant mockery - and walked over to inspect them. Chiyo grunted and turned back to her ruined puppet. Let them think she was ignoring them.

"Was this you?" Baki asked her sharply, but softly enough that the Leaf would not hear.

"Don't be ridiculous," Chiyo replied. "Unlike some on our council, it seems, I am no traitor."

"What do you imply?"

Chiyo laughed. "You know my thoughts on Otokaze and Satetsu. You've warned me about Yuura-kun." She favored the slug girls with a glare. "Sometimes I'm not too sure about you, either."

Baki grunted. "We disagree about the best path for Gaara-kun." His eyes were hard, she noted with approval. "We do not disagree in our love for this village, and I'll ask you not to insult me in such a manner again."

Chiyo laughed. "As you wish," she said, and then she returned her apparent attention to the puppet, and her real attention to the Leaf pair.

The pink-haired girl was just watching and asking questions, while the older one did the work. Maybe she really didn't know about night lotus extract, then. How soft was the slug woman with her apprentice if she hadn't mastered antidotes to all the Leaf's poisons by now?

The older woman straightened and turned back to them. "Chiyo-dono," she said, her voice respectful. "It seems as though the night lotus extract has been modified from the formula my master developed, and combined with at least one other poison."

Chiyo looked up from her puppet. "I suppose so," she said. "What of it?"

"Did you identify the other poison?"

"Not enough sample remained," Chiyo answered, for the moment almost forgetting she wasn't working with one of her own students in the Sand's hospital, "and acquiring another is non-trivial."

Shizune nodded. "I believe I have a hunch," she said. She glanced at the younger Leaf. "Do you have the chakra for a summon, Sakura-chan?"

The girl nodded. "I thought that composition looked a little familiar. Yes, Shizune-sempai."

The older woman stepped forward, walking over to Chiyo and Baki. "With your permission, I will obtain an additional sample. Will the wards interfere with a summoning?"

"If I had my way," Chiyo said, "this whole village would be warded against your slugs." The pink-haired girl made an odd face, and Chiyo frowned.

"Which means no, it won't," Baki translated.

Shizune stepped up to the flickering green barrier, watching the sand beat against it. "Is this one way?" she asked the chuunin seated cross-legged next to her.

He glanced at Baki, who nodded, then answered. "It's keyed to Sh… to Gaara-kun's power, ma'am. It should not affect you or any of your techniques."

"Very well." Shizune straightened, visibly steeling herself. "This will take just a moment, then." Chiyo abandoned her pretense of poking in her surgical puppet's insides to watch, curious what the slug girl was about to do.

The woman formed a rapid set of seals, too fast for even Chiyo to follow, then stuck out one open hand, almost touching the light of the barrier. A wound opened on her palm, blood oozing out, slowly at first, then flying away. Ribbons of blood danced through the air, encircling the barrier. "First-Level Emergency Field Sealing Method," Shizune grunted. "Demon-Banishing Procedure!"

The blood encircling the barrier formed glowing characters which pulsed like a heartbeat, then rapidly flew through the sandstorm and formed chains to bind the container. There was a pulse of malign power, then another, weaker one, and then the sand dropped to the ground, still. Chiyo's eyes widened slightly, but that was the only sign she made that she was impressed.

Shizune wavered, but then stood straight. She held out a hand. "Sakura-chan, syringe." The pink-haired girl pulled one out of a pack she was wearing on her back, and after taking it Shizune calmly walked into the barrier, stepping over the sand. She reached Gaara, took his blood, and exited the barrier in less than a minute.

That was almost too long, as mere instants after she passed through the green light again, a new wave of killing intent leaked from the container, and the sand resumed its attack on the barrier with redoubled fury. Shizune looked almost like she wanted the collapse for a moment before she hid her weariness. "Your turn, Sakura-chan," she said lightly. Chiyo grimaced. She hated those damn slugs almost as much as she hated the slug woman.

The pink-haired girl nodded, pushing aside the bandages she wore on her arms to reveal a dark marking. Chiyo grunted in surprise. That couldn't be what it looked like, could it? The girl bit at her thumb and smeared blood over the marking, pressing that arm to the stone floor. "Summoning Technique."

She was surrounded by smoke for an instant, and then a large, gray snake was coiled about her. A snake summoner? Tsunade's new apprentice was a snake summoner? What madness was this? Surely the slug woman hadn't reconciled with her old teammate!

The snake wore a Leaf forehead protector around its neck like a collar, and its tongue flicked out once before it spoke in a feminine voice. "What is your bidding, my mistress?" it asked.

Chiyo's eyes widened. Who was this girl, to have dominated a member of that notoriously independent spirit court so thoroughly? The girl just laughed. "I've told you a hundred times not to call me that, Seseki."

The snake laughed back at its summoner. "But it makes Anko squirm so nicely, Sakura," it said lightly.

"She's upset enough that you agreed to become my personal summon after you'd been working with her for years," Sakura replied.

The snake laughed again. "She never asked," it replied, "and you said please!" Chiyo shook her head. Either this was the strangest snake spirit ever, or Manda had been letting his standards slip over the last decades.

Shizune just chuckled. "We need your help, Seseki-san," she said. "I have a blood sample from a boy that's been poisoned with an elaborate cocktail. We think it might be partly snake venom."

Seseki glanced at the contained sandstorm. "Him? Interesting. Give me a taste." Shizune handed Sakura the syringe, and she squeezed a drop of tainted blood onto her summon's outstretched tongue. The snake closed its mouth and let out a happy, disturbing noise, before speaking. "I see," it said. "There's a lot of other stuff in there, but I think I recognize the venom." It hesitated. "Yes, that's Nure-sama's taste, all right."

"Nure-sama?" Sakura asked.

"She's a nasty old snake, one of Manda's consorts," Seseki replied. "I'm not powerful enough to make an anti-venom for her." The snake paused, then added, "The only one I know who she has let summon her is Orochimaru."

The whole room went silent at that revelation, except for the hiss of sand beating on the barrier. Shizune cursed softly. "That last thing we need is another player in this game," she said, and Chiyo didn't think she knew she spoke out loud.

"Do you need me for anything else? Maybe to bite someone?" Seseki asked, and when Sakura shook her head, the snake turned and licked the girl's cheek with its forked tongue, then vanished in a cloud of gray smoke.

Everyone was silent for a moment longer, then Baki spoke. "Can… can you still help him?" he asked, letting an unseemly amount of desperation into his voice.

"I don't know," Shizune said softly. "Even the night lotus extract has been modified, without accounting for the other poisons. I can definitely prolong his life, and try to develop a treatment, but… it won't be easy. I'll need to send the composition of the poison back to Hokage-sama."

"You'll have every aid we can give -"

Chiyo cut Baki off. "No, she won't."

"Chiyo," the man almost growled.

"You've let your attachment to the container consume you, Baki," Chiyo said. "If we don't intend to lose the demon, we need to start the extraction before the container's chakra coils weaken too much. We don't have time to let the slug girl waste weeks failing, even if I trusted the Leaf enough to let them do that."

Baki's eyes were hard. "You don't have the votes."

Chiyo knew her gaze matched his. "We shall see."

* * *

><p>"She had the votes," Baki said grimly. "That cold-hearted bitch called in favors I thought she would save for the final vote to nominate the next Kazekage, the threat of losing the demon permanently scared her followers into line, and Yuura swung enough of your faction to support her, Otokaze."<p>

"Damn it," the nominal fugitive cursed. "Maybe I should have showed up after all."

"Chiyo would have had you arrested before you could say 'hello,'" Baki said sourly. "It wouldn't have done any good."

The kitchen of the Leaf's guest house was once again home to a meeting that would have been unusual were they not unfortunately becoming routine. This time Baki had brought Temari and Kankuro along, but the two siblings had been quiet, immersed in their own thoughts.

On the Leaf's side of the room, Shizune cursed loudly. "I've been working on a treatment," she said, "but it isn't going to be something I can just slip in and give Gaara-kun."

"She's going to kill him?" Naruto asked softly.

Baki bowed his head. "I'm afraid so."

Naruto slammed a fist into the kitchen table. "I won't let that happen. Who do I need to beat up?"

"Naruto!" Sakura said. "We can't solve this like that."

Asuma wasn't smoking for once, as he stood by the door leading out to the training ground. "We can't afford to act openly either. We have to prioritize preserving the alliance over the boy."

"Ninja who don't take care of their friends are worse than trash," Naruto countered angrily. Sakura looked conflicted for a moment, but then nodded firmly.

"It isn't always that simple," Shizune said sadly. "We have to think about our friends back home too."

Jiraiya, who had been quietly watching the conversation, leaning against the wall opposite Asuma, spoke. "This isn't our decision," he said.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto protested.

"Shut up, Naruto," Jiraiya said sharply. "The boy is your friend, but he's their brother," he gestured at Temari and Kankuro, "and Baki-san's student. This is their village. If you want to be Hokage, you have to realize that your desires don't always come first."

"This isn't about what I want," Naruto protested. "Gaara doesn't deserve to die." He glared at Baki and Otokaze. "You have to do something."

Baki bowed his head. "I want to," he said softly. "But I cannot."

"Baki-sensei!" Kankuro shouted. "The annoying brat is right! We can't just let that bitch kill Gaara. I'll fucking kill her first."

"And what will you do then?" Otokaze asked. "Become missing ninja? Defect to the Leaf and restart the war your father wanted?"

"If this village will let her kill my brother," Temari started, but then she trailed off. "But you wouldn't take us, would you?" she asked Shizune. "That would start a war between the Sand and Leaf. As missing ninja, we'd be killed within a month, or these Akatsuki would get Gaara anyway."

Shizune looked away. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Let's not get too depressed," Jiraiya said lightly. "I have no intention of letting that old crone play right into Akatsuki's hands. Gaara-kun can defend himself. A tea kettle is a sitting duck just waiting for some bastard in a red and black cloak to pick it up, and a baby would be even worse." He stepped away from the wall, and for a moment every vestige of the harmless, playful old pervert he usually acted as was gone, and the man feared throughout the world as one of the legendary Sannin shone through. "Shizune-chan," he said, his voice soft but no less commanding for the tone. "What would you need to cure the boy? And what are the odds?"

"I… I'd need a hospital, or at least a well-equipped medical facility. I'd need at least a week, possibly more, uninterrupted. I'd need access to the Sand's herb gardens for materials." Shizune hesitated. "The odds… no worse than three in five."

"Better than I feared," Jiraiya said. His gaze turned to Baki and Otokaze. "This is not my decision," he said. "But if you ask it, if you can provide Shizune-chan what she needs, we will try to save him." None of the Leaf protested. "I won't tell you the details. You don't need to know.

"But be warned. My aid does not come without a price." Naruto started to protest, but a glare from Jiraiya actually silenced the boy. "I want full access to every report you have on Akatsuki," he said. "I want full copies of every record that crone made of the seal she put on Gaara and any previous seals that were used on the previous successful hosts. I want every bit of research the Sand have on the demon and its containers."

"You don't come cheaply," Baki said softly.

"I'm not done," Jiraiya said. "I don't intend to have to come back here every time that boy stubs his toes. If Chiyo isn't neutralized to my satisfaction at the end of this, I am taking the boy with me."

"Jiraiya-sama," Shizune protested. "You can't… it would be an act of war."

"You're the boy's guardian and the head of this damn village's council," Jiraiya said to Baki, ignoring Shizune. "If it comes to that, you'll approve it as a long-term mission, and make sure that it stays approved." He paused. "And one of you two will be with us when we rescue the boy to take the fall if things go to hell."

Baki bowed his head. "Baki-sensei," Temari said.

He looked up. "Otokaze," he said.

The younger Sand ninja nodded once. "I'm already wanted for treason," he said. "I might as well do something to earn it."

"Thank you," Baki murmured. He stood. "It's a shame the council does not trust me on to handle this matter, or I would have informed them that the orders for the extra guards on Gaara's sleeping chambers expire in two days. The council might also be concerned that the secret exit in the reservoir caves will be manned exclusively by ninja still loyal to Otokaze that same evening. Or that the medical safe-house in Sector Three-D outside the village is unmanned, since the guards have been called away for exam security. But my hands are tied.

"Shizune-dono, I regret to inform you that all diplomatic functions between now and the exam finals have been canceled due to the situation. My apologies." He stood, and without further word stalked out of the room. A moment later, they heard the front door of the guest house slam shut behind him.

The was silence for a moment, and then Temari bowed deeply to Jiraiya. "Please, Jiraiya-sama. Save Gaara. Anything I can do…"

"Anything?" the old ninja asked lecherously, relaxing as he leaned against the wall.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto roared. Beside him, Sakura buried her face in her hands.

Temari looked angry for a moment, but then she laughed. "Thank you, Jiraiya-sama," she said. "The medical safe-house will need to be prepared," she continued. "I can take you there as soon as you're ready, Shizune-sama." The woman nodded.

Kankuro grunted. "I've got access to the herb gardens, to make my poisons," he said. "Tell me what you will need."

"I have a list," Shizune said.

The puppet-user nodded. "As for the rest of you, if you happen to get a chance to kill that old bitch while you're doing this, feel free." He smiled angrily. "Just save any puppets you can and give them to me."

"Kankuro," Temari said warningly.

Jiraiya clapped his hands. "All right," he said. "I have a plan. I'm going to need four volunteers. Well, three and Otokaze." He smirked. "If Baki had been stupid and offered to come himself, I'd have needed to insist on you." Otokaze nodded slowly.

"I'm coming," Naruto said.

Jiraiya sighed. "I knew it," he said. "Fine. You've actually got more relevant experience than anyone else here." He glanced at Asuma.

The jounin nodded once. "All right."

"We'll want a genjutsu user," Jiraiya said. "I suppose we can call in Yuuhi-san -"

"If Naruto is going, I'm going." Sakura's voice was firm.

Jiraiya scratched at his head. "I haven't had time to test you on genjutsu, girl. How good does Danzo say you are?"

Sakura smiled grimly. "I'm not totally incompetent, on my good days."

Jiraiya laughed. "That's good enough for me, then. We'll see if you can learn the genjutsu you need in two days."

"I might already know it, or a similar one," Sakura asked. "What do you need?"

"Something to beef up everyone's chakra presence, so they'll seem too dangerous to mess with."

Sakura's hands moved through seals. "Demonic Illusion - Murderous Purpose," she intoned, and a wave of obscenely powerful killing intent swept the room for just an instant.

Jiraiya nodded. "You're in, girl," he said.

"What will you be doing, Jiraiya-sama?" Shizune asked quietly.

"I'm going to be keeping that old crone busy," he answered. "She's been aching to get her hands on a copy of Naruto's seal since I started talking with her." He smiled grimly. "I've got some partial drafts that will keep us talking for a week."

"So, what's the plan?" Naruto asked.

"Do you remember how that Kabuto kid lured you away from Hojo's estate?" Jiraiya asked. Naruto thought for a moment, and then he grinned. "We're going to pin the blame on someone who deserves it, and maybe focus the Sand council's attention where it needs to go," Jiraiya continued, and then he began to go over the plan in detail.

* * *

><p>Author's Random Rambling<p>

1) Originally this chapter was going to cover Week Nine also, letting the next chapter start with the exam finals. Then I got a look at the size of this thing (23,000 words!), and I decided this was a good stopping point. It'll help me shore up some problems I was having with the next chapter, too.

2) Oddly enough, I believe Satetsu may be the first canonical character I've killed in One Hundred Days/Weeks. (Yep, he's actually nominally canonical. So is Otokaze. Hooray for bit characters with names.) I suppose I did technically kill poor Oonoki, but he wasn't canonical when I killed him, so I don't think that counts.

3) As always, thanks go to everyone who commented on the draft of this story on The Fanfiction Forum.

4) Next time, in One Hundred Weeks, Chapter 4: For A Friend, Jiraiya's plan goes into action. The fate of Gaara of the Desert and the Hidden Village of Sand hangs in the balance, and neither Chiyo nor Akatsuki are going to give up without a fight. And speaking of fights, the Chuunin Exam finals are only a week away!

5) And with that out of the way, I would like to announce that I've recently (foolishly?) started another Naruto fanfiction, entitled Dead Garden and available on this site. If you've enjoyed One Hundred Days and One Hundred Weeks, I imagine there is a decent shot you'll enjoy this one too, so I encourage you to check it out and let me know what you think!

Draft Started: June 14, 2011  
>Draft Finished: July 10, 2011<br>Draft Released: July 11, 2011  
>Final Released: July 14, 2011<p>


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